A New and Dangerous Threat
by SuperPotatoSupreme
Summary: The Tenno have heard of yet another Corpus executive causing issues in the system. But when this one kidnaps one of the Tenno from a squad's clan, it gets personal as they work to take down the new executive. This is a fan fiction. I own no rights to Warframe, that all belongs to Digital Extremes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! Welcome to my Warframe fan fiction. I wanted to say a few things before the story starts. First off, if you are looking for a lore-friendly story, this is not it. I've had this story idea in my head for 2 years now and I kept with the original details. Since then the lore has been more fleshed out in the game so the details of this story no longer matches actual lore. Good, now that that is out of the way, I would also like to add that this is my first long form fan fiction. If you have tips, criticism, or even just happen to find a spelling or grammar mistake, review or message me. I am completely willing to listen and learn.**

 **As a general rundown, this story follows one squad of characters based off of my friends and me. I wanted to give Tenno a voice they never had and using my friends for their personality made sense. The story has some action, some fluff, some dialogue, some intense scenes and some more.**

 **Either way, I'll stop typing now. Enjoy!**

* * *

The storage room on the Grineer frigate was dim and dusty. One giant window in the room showed off many bright flashes as the ship's cannons fired, but only to test them as there were no targets. The single room full of ammo and random containers from the ship's conquests was infrequently visited despite the number of times similar rooms had been invaded on other grineer ships. A single guard meandered through on occasion but never saw anything. It was a storage room and nothing more. The grineer fleet was huge so the chances of this one being invaded was small.

Except today, the ship was being invaded.

The room already held three Tenno, complete with warframes and weapons. They barely noticed the firing of the cannons as they stood talking while waiting for the last member of their squad to show up so they could start their simple extermination mission.

Suddenly a crash was heard as the vent on the ceiling fell to floor followed by a Volt warframe. The Volt landed softly then instinctively froze to listen for any Grineer who may have heard the sound. He had been surprised once and that was enough for him. After a few second, he stood up knowing that a group of Grineer was not on its way.

The Volt wore basic colors on his warframe, not wanting to look fancy and also being dreadful at picking a good color palette. His weapon set consisted of a Latron Wraith, two Lex pistols, and Kronen. Bring an experienced Tenno, he had mastered these weapons and considered them his favorites. Before doing anything else, he let out his Helios sentinel. Even though the sentinel type was not the most popular, the want to learn about the enemies made the scanner an invaluable tool. It was also modded to aid in defense which worked well for the pair.

Realizing that a conversation was probably going on between his fellow squad-mates, the Volt connected to the squad's voice comms system.

"That's not what your mother said!" a male voice yelled as soon as he entered the system. The Volt let out a small laugh both showing he found the comment funny and to signify his presence.

"You two are already arguing about something?" the volt asked. "What is it this time?"

"We are just discussing how the Nikana is a better sword than the Dakra Prime." a slightly british tinged voice responded. "Also, hi Spud!" she added.

"Hi Hayden." Spud responded simply. "And again? I keep telling you and Lonewolf that they shouldn't even be classed together in terms of weapons."

"Yeah," the first voice, Lonewolf, responded "but that doesn't change the fact that the Dakra Prime is better!" He yelled.

A small laugh was then heard in the system. Spud turned towards the corner where an Oberon warframe was leaning. The horned helmet he wore was impressive to say the least, and the bright orange and black colors fit rather well. His collection consisted of a Vectis which was being held up by the Tenno, two Magnus pistols on his sides, a glaive one his wrist, and a Shade sentinel floating above his shoulder. Nicknamed because of his impressive accuracy with his weapons, the Oberon was proudly called Falkenauge meaning "Hawkeye" in the ancient language of German.

"Hey Falken." Spud said. "How long have they been arguing?"

"Hey Spud. Literally since we arrived." Falken said with a joking tone.

Spud laughed as he turned towards the original speakers. Lonewolf wore a yellow and black Ash warframe and carried a Soma rifle, Acrid, and a Dakra Prime, being the only one in the squad with a primed weapon of any kind given how rare it was to find all the parts for one weapon. He also had a Wyrm sentinel floating above his shoulder but it had the Dethcube machine rifle instead of the standard Wyrm weapon. Getting his name from running mostly solo missions, Lonewolf was a very effective fighter.

Hayden wore a Trinity warframe and was easily one of the best healers. She had colored her warframe black, white, and yellow and wore a helmet which kinda resembled an angel halo, something many people had commented on. She also had a Sybaris, a Marelok, and a Bo staff as her weapons. Her Carrier sentinel floated above her shoulder as well but was more for collecting items than for combat. Despite primarily being a healer, Hayden was also good at fighting.

"Well, should we start our mission?" Spud asked. "It is only an exterminate so it will be easy." He said trying not to sound too impatient but failing pretty badly.

"I wanted to ask you all about something first." Falken said while pushing himself away from the wall to join the other three. "Have you heard any rumbling above a new Corpus executive? Alad V I think I heard?" he asked towards Spud since he tended to have more information than most.

"Not too much." Spud said simply. "Just a few things here and there. He seems to be interested in thinking of something new to make his precious profits. Building something perhaps. Most spy missions have failed, some really badly." They all glanced at him slightly. "Some haven't… come back…" he clarified slowly.

"That is more than a little concerning…" Hayden mumbled to herself. "I'm surprised you haven't tried to take that mission yet Spud. You like that sort of thing."

"Well I'm not supposed to know about this to be fair. Not yet at least." Spud replied.

"Either way, I don't think it will be too long before we break through and find out what he is doing." Lonewolf said. "We always do at some point."

"Yeah," Falken said, "but you have to admit that it is kind of sc-" he started to say as he was cut off by the sound of a door opening.

"Grineer coming this way, just one." Spud said quickly as he actually had sight of the door.

Spud quickly dispersed the small amount of energy he held. The emptying of his energy pool made the light fade from the coils on his arms but also caused the lights to flicker before burning out completely.

The now curious grineer quickly pulled his grakata up to look for any threats and walked into the small area where Hayden and Lonewolf were next to the doorframe, Falken was in a dark corner, and Spud was in the other corner. Noticing the grate on the ground, the grineer started to get suspicious.

Spud's energy siphon mod then kicked in making his energy pool rise while also allowing for the coils to light up their normal red color. The grineer noticed quickly and shortly after noticed the rifle aimed at his face. Trying to escape and tell the other grineer, he ran towards the door but was quickly hit in the face with a Bo causing his to fall and quickly get stabbed by Lonewolf's Dakra Prime resulting in a quick death.

"Okay, I think it is time to start." Spud said without any complaints from the others. The group headed towards the door to the rest of the ship to complete their mission.

"Multiple enemies ahead. Leave no one standing." The voice of the Lotus said in their comms. And with that, the squad went out.

* * *

The mission was going well. The combined powers and strengths of the Tenno worked well together for clearing out rooms. As they approached a door, the Lotus cut in.

"Tenno." She said quietly. The squad stopped. The Lotus never talked so quiet. "The grineer have gathered a big force in the next room. For what reason, I do not know but they do not know you are here. Be careful."

"Well that sounds fun." Hayden said, sounding bored. "But I suppose we should be careful."

They entered the large room quietly. The number of grineer was substantial nothing they couldn't handle. Falken quickly ran for the group to get a better vantage point using his Shade's invisibility to sneak past grineer unnoticed. Once in position, he made a small sound to tell the others to attack.

The three remaining Tenno jumped into battle as Vectis shots rained from above, taking out at least one grineer per shot. The grineer quickly noticed and started shooting at the approaching Tenno.

"Time for some fun." Spud said as he activated his speed ability, giving the three of them an insane boost in running speed. Upon reaching the first grineer, Spud pulled out his Kronen and did a sliding, sweeping attack which took out a few grineer without a problem. Noticing the empty space around him, he put his Kronen away and started taking shots with his Latron Wraith. The roaring of the weapon matched its power as single shots took down enemies easily.

Lonewolf started his attack with two shuriken thrown towards the grineer and taking two out with them. He quickly activated his Blade Storm ability and teleported around applying lethal strikes to multiple enemies while three clones of himself did the same which took out a large portion of the attacking force. Upon finishing his Blade Storm, Lonewolf pulled out his Soma and started taking out enemies quickly with the combination of the gun's high fire rate and Lonewolf's almost perfect aim.

Hayden had jumped over the first grineer and was fighting a small group of grineer with her Bo while keeping a close eye on everybody's health and shields. The Bo strikes were strong but she eventually pulled out her Marelok to quickly kill the enemies at close to mid range before using her Sybaris to hit the enemies farther away.

Falken provided great cover from above. He shot perfectly with the sniper rifle, never missing a shot and also helping his teammates. He fired a shot at a grineer trying to flank Spud, a grineer with a shield that Lonewolf couldn't quite hit, and grineer butcher running at Hayden from behind.

Suddenly, a loud clang was heard as Spud was knocked down by a shield. Falken quickly turned and killed the attacking before Spud could even get up. Spud activated his electric shield to gain some cover and saw that some Bombards were entering the room too. He heard the rockets fire and quickly shocked the group attacking from behind him. This gave him enough time to pull one Lex and shoot 2 rockets out of the air. Under the cover of the smoke, Spud activated his Speed ability and launched himself towards the Bombards, his Kronen flashing as he hit from behind and from the front not allowing them to fight back.

Lonewolf teleported over knocking one off balance and driving his blade deep into the grineer's stomach. Hayden also ran over and activated her Link ability as one Bombard smashed the ground causing Spud and Lonewolf to fall while Hayden stood standing as her Link knocked down the enemies nearby. She quickly healed the group noticing that the area was clear. A sound was then heard behind them as Falken lifted up 4 enemies hiding behind the group and smashed them towards to ground to finish them off.

"Well that mission was a success." Falken said. "At least I didn't have to pick any of you back up this time." he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going." Spud said. "I think we've deserved a little break."

The squad started walking towards the extraction to get out of the now deserted grineer ship and headed to their clan dojo.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! If you are reading this then I guessing (and I hope) you read the first chapter so I would like to say thank you for reading the next chapter! The first was more introduction than anything but this chapter starts the story off so look forward to that! As with the first chapter, feel free to post any comments, questions, suggestions, or corrections in the reviews or by message.**

 **Also, remember to follow the story to get notifications when new chapters are released! Anyways, enjoy chapter 2!**

* * *

The four lisets of the squad arrived at the clan dojo at basically the same time. The lisets' cephalons had taken care of the pathing to the dojo from the squad's mission which allowed them to catch up with stories about recent missions. This trip seemed short even though they all knew that the distance was quite a large one to travel.

As the lisets docked and were checked, the group of four started walking toward the dojo's main room while continuing their conversation. Spud seemed relatively nervous for some reason but continued to walk although a little bit behind. Seeing the strange change in demeanor in the normally steadfast Tenno and knowing the exact reason, the others changed the subject.

"So… Spud," Lonewolf started, "How are things going with Nova?" Spud's head shot up both embarrassed and attempting to glare at Lonewolf through his helmet. "Have you asked her out yet?"

"Shut up." Spud said quietly. "And no, not yet…" he finished even quieter. The group chuckled slightly and Spud took the opportunity to switch the spotlight. "But I've heard Falken is making progress with Nyx." he said with a smirk.

Falken stopped walking for a bit causing the others to pause momentarily. "No I haven't," Falken said matter of factly, "she probably doesn't even know I exist."

"Saryn says she talks about you occasionally," Hayden said. "You just need to talk to her a little more and you're in," she added while starting to walk the remaining short distance to the door with the others following suit.

They entered the dojo and were greeted with the regular activities of the dojo. The clan was a small one with only one of each warframe type so everybody was mostly known by warframe rather than nickname. A few learning Tenno were also around as they helped with small tasks and observed different Tenno to determine which warframe they would take as their own.

Most, if not all, warframed Tenno in the clan were in the main room. In a corner, a small group of Tenno students were gathered around a Rhino as he told them about his various theories. Everybody knew they weren't true but he still managed to catch the attention of a handful of students. More in the middle of the room, a pink and purple Zephyr leaning against a pillar was checking her Boltor and minutely nodded towards the group as they entered. As they started walking in, the squad passed another group going on a mission. In their ranks was Saryn.

"Hey Saryn," Hayden said while turning her body around to clearly look at the Tenno's butt while walking backwards. "What is the mission today?"

"A standard capture mission," Saryn responded.

"Don't get hurt out there," Hayden said with a slight humor in her voice. "Wouldn't want to lose you, babe."

"I'm not getting hurt knowing what we have planned tonight," Saryn said with a lusty tinge in her voice, something that everybody had gotten used to except for a few students who had now moved to see the two female Tenno.

Hayden turned around as the conversation had ended and quickly noticed Nova sitting against the wall with what looked like some sort of reading material. "Hey Spud, go ask her what she is reading." she said quietly.

"No, I don't want to bother her." Spud responded just as quietly. As if she had heard, Nova looked up at him causing his to look away while she giggled quietly to herself and returned to her reading.

To the left, Nyx was leaning against a wall and nodded towards the squad while making considerable effort to see Falken, which he failed to notice although the others did not. Spud nudged him slightly but the message was still hard to decipher.

As the group approached the middle of the room, Lonewolf noticed an older student Tenno to the side and left the group to go talk to her. The Tenno was in a standard red jumpsuit and was checking some weapons. She had been a student at the clan for a long time but hadn't decided on a warframe quite yet although she was close to picking one now. Even though she didn't have a warframe yet, she was still one of the clan's best spies and often went on missions solo to do just that.

"Hey Valkyr," Lonewolf started, "going on another mission?"

She looked up from her work and smiled at him. "Yeah," she said, "another spy. I apparently need to get information about a new Corpus executive."

Lonewolf perked up remembering the conversation from earlier. "Alad V?" he asked, kind of scared of the answer.

"Yeah," Valkyr said. "How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess," he said quickly. "Well, umm, be safe okay?"

"I will be. I always am," she said encouragingly. "I'll be back soon," she added while walking towards the liset bay.

"I sure hope so," Lonewolf mumbled nervously as he walked back to his squad.

* * *

The room was a mess. There was ammo on the ground, papers on the floors, and, most noteworthy, shuriken in walls at various places. The group of four were all huddled together as Lonewolf tried, once again, to fit the single fly with one but only barely missing.

"I thought you said you could hit it?" Spud said jokingly. "It is still flying around as far as I can see."

"I CAN hit it though. I'm just a little bit off." Lonewolf answered, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah? Well, you have been a little bit off at least 20 times now," Hayden added wanting to join in on the teasing.

"How did a fly even get in the dojo?" Falken asked. "Did you bring one from an earth mission just for this purpose?"

"It wouldn't surprise me honestly," Spud said while the group moved towards where the fly had now landed.

"I did not…" Lonewolf said as he lined up the shot.

The group was so distracted by the fly that they didn't even notice that the Lotus had actually entered their room despite the loud click of her heels on the floor. As she entered and made note of the various shuriken in the wall and pulled one from the wall. With a quick throw, she fit it in between the four Tenno and perfectly hit the fly attaching it to the wall. The group quickly turned around and saw who was there.

"Tenno, you are one of my best squads and I need you to go on an emergency mission." she said without emotion.

"What kind of mission?" Hayden said after a pause as she finally got herself to stop staring at the body of the Lotus.

"First, a capture. We need information from a few certain Corpus officers." the Lotus answered.

"Information about what?" Spud asked curious.

"Alad V," the Lotus stated. Everybody froze at the name and watched their leader intently. After a pause, she continued. "We need to know the location of his main lab because he has kidnapped Valkyr."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Just another quick note to say thank you for reading! Comment, questions, suggestions, and corrections are welcome! Enjoy chapter 3!**

* * *

The four Tenno got ready for their mission quickly. Even though it was just a standard capture mission, this one had a lot more relevance to the group and the clan as a whole. Even though Valkyr was still a student, every Tenno in the clan knew her. Her long black hair and constant smile was hard to ignore and could easily cheer up anybody having a bad day, She had already established herself among the clan members and had known for a while that she would join the dojo once she chose a warframe; something everybody in the clan was looking forward to in the future. But it was all in jeopardy now.

As the squad checked their personal weapons and modded them accordingly for the Corpus soldiers, the Lotus was giving them the details of the mission while trying to stay collected and calm for the sake of her warriors. They would be infiltrating the same Corpus outpost where Valkyr was initially sent. There had been multiple high ranking officials spotted by drones and one in particular was determined to be the most likely to know the information they were looking for. He needed to be alive though, something that made sense but was always more difficult.

The Lotus suggested that a stealthy approach would be the best since the outpost's alarm systems was probably state of the art and would warn the target of any intrusions, allowing for easy escape. Agreeing that it was the best idea, Spud switched in a mod to silence his high powered Lex pistols in order to take out cameras while the rest dealt with any soldiers who had the misfortune of running into them. The mission had to be done perfectly and quickly, something the squad was quite good at doing.

When the group arrived at the outpost, there was no talking and no time wasted. Hayden used a module to quickly fill everybody's energy pool then they were off. Stealth was sometimes hard in missions but Lonewolf's invisibility and drive to finish the mission made everything easy. Spud shot every camera before they could be seen and the others had their melee weapons in hand for quick, silent kills. Lonewolf destroyed rooms full of soldiers with blade storm and Spud often electrocuted small groups of them while Hayden and Falken took out stray enemies.

The mission hit no hiccups. One soldier tried to run to a console but was struck by Lonewolf after a room-long teleport brought a foot against the soldier's helmet. They worked their way through the complex killing those in the way while ignoring others in order to keep stealth going. As they approached the area marked as the location where the target was located, the group switched to their main weapons. In order to get the jump on the target, Spud activated his speed ability as they ran into the room.

The scene was chaos for about five seconds but it felt like forever. Falken threw his Glaive and cleanly cut through four soldiers while Spud slid in taking out two more just as fast. Lonewolf's blade storm cleaned off a big number of soldiers from the heavily guarded room and Hayden kept a good eye one everybody's health and shields while taking out distant enemies.

Shortly after, the Corpus open fired. Spud put up various electric shields to block the bullets and make his squadmates' bullet gain a small electric burst of damage. Falken fought his way through the soldiers using just his glaive to cleave through their armor and block almost all incoming bullets. As he reached a high point, Falken pulled out his Vectis to scan the area.

"Found him!" he yelled as he took note of the figure running towards the door. He shot repeatedly at the target finding the armor hard to penetrate but knocking him around with the impacts of the bullets.

The other three quickly jumped into action to catch the fleeing target.

"I'll catch up to him with speed," Spud said taking over the quick plan making job. "Lonewolf, teleport in to knock him over and then blade storm to clear the area. Don't hit the target. Hayden, watch our health and our backs." They quickly split to do their jobs.

Hayden stopped and turned around with her Link activated to take the brunt of the attacks while Falken helped her clear the soldiers. At the same time Lonewolf delivered a forceful kick to the target after a teleport but paused slightly before using blade storm to clear any other soldiers from the area. Spud's speed activated and he switched to his Lex pistols while running. The target got up quickly but fell down again as the two pistols shot bullets which rammed into his knees with tremendous force.

Spud got there quickly, delivering and extra shock to make sure the target couldn't and wouldn't get back up. Lonewolf had finished cleaning up the area and walked to the target to capture him.

"You've got the wrong person!" the target yelled as Lonewolf held out his hand to capture him in the extremely painful transfer to the storage section of the warframe's systems.

"No, we got exactly who we are looking for," Lonewolf said menacingly as the transfer started.

"Where are you taking me?!" the target yelled in both panic and severe pain. He knew they were Tenno but he couldn't hide his fear.

"We can't tell you that," Spud said simply. "That would take away all the fun… for us at least." he continued with a wicked smile in his voice. "I'm very sure we will have a lot of good times soon enough."

The target's eyes grew large with fear and then screamed as the transfer continued, now at a faster rate but also adding more pain. At this point the others had joined the group as the room had been completely cleared by the group of Tenno. The bodies of Corpus soldiers were everywhere and the only one still alive was screaming in pain. A good room clear in terms of Tenno standards.

As the transfer completed, the Lotus spoke in their comms.

"Target captured. Now get to extraction Tenno, we need to interrogate his immediately if we want any chance of saving Valkyr."

The Tenno looked at each other and pulled out their primary weapons. Spud activated speed once again and they took off running, ignoring every soldier they could ignore but cleanly killing any who happened to cause them any issues. They reached the extraction quickly and easily finished the mission without an major complications.

When they reached the dojo, Lonewolf instantly went to hand over the target to the Lotus and to help with the interrogation while the others stayed back a bit. Hayden was the first to speak.

"Am I the only one noticing that Lonewolf seems a little off?" she said with worry in her voice. "I feel like he is going to snap and just kill everything soon."

"Yeah, I noticed it too," Spud said. "He was too quiet and brutal to the first soldiers we encountered. Brutal even for him."

"I kind of thought he was going to kill our target," Falken added. "Through my scope I noticed a bit of a hesitation before he used blade storm after knocking the target down."

"We should probably watch him," Spud said. "I mean, we all know that Valkyr means a lot to him so it is clearly anger, but at the same time I think he will put saving Valkyr before revenge. Or at least I hope so…"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks again for reading! Remember that questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are always welcome!**

* * *

Falken, Hayden, and Spud were quiet as they walked together to their usual hang out room being both exhausted from pulling double missions that day and also due to the emotional rollercoaster the day had taken them on. Knowing that it was possible that they could go on yet another mission relatively soon, they took the time to relax and rest. After removing their helmets and placing them in a place where they could quickly find them, they all split off to do their own thing. Hayden and Spud decided to leave while Falken felt he would rather relax in the room itself since it would be empty.

* * *

Reading was something that was once thought of as magical. Like peering into a new world and observing from afar. Despite their past success, reading was not something that most Tenno did in their spare time as it was often seemingly more fun to practice at a firing range or challenging others to races on the obstacle course. Nova didn't mind though. That just meant more quiet areas to read.

At the moment, Nova sat in the big main room against a far wall. The events of the day, namely Valkyr's abduction, had pushed many Tenno to retire to their living quarters. Only the soft sounds of a conversation between three students could be faintly heard from Nova's position so she could easily ignore the sounds.

Nova's current reading material was a popular ancient book transferred to a digital media which followed the life of a certain Harry Potter. It was something that she wished she could talk to somebody about but the only other person she knew who read was the clan's Oberon. Although he did read, she had only ever seen him holding a tablet containing multiple different forms of a writing style called poetry. He sometimes tried to share some with other Tenno, mostly Nyx though she realized in that moment. It reminded her of how the Clan's Volt, Spud, would talk to her about her reading, causing her to smile slightly.

In the distance, Nova heard a door open and the conversation between the students stopped momentarily causing her to look up slightly. After brushing away a few strands of her long, blonde hair she realized that the Tenno who entered also had blonde hair, although it was short and a dirty shade. She quickly recognized Spud because of it and watched as he turned towards a door leading to the always empty observation room. She also took note of the fact that he was alone, which barely ever happened.

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, Nova marked her point in her reading and moved to follow Spud into the observation room.

* * *

Spud's first instinct was to go to the observation room. It contained a giant window through which it was possible to see the nearby planet and moons. It was a place that was relaxing to him and was where he went when he felt a need for quiet. As he entered, Spud was happy to see that the room was completely empty and walked towards the window so he could sit near it while he thought about the day and rested.

He was only there for about three minutes before he heard the door open. He glanced over and froze as he saw a girl with long, blonde hair walking towards him. He knew based on the hair and the slight clicking sound her walk made that it was Nova.

"Nova?" he asked confused as she got closer. "What are you- I mean, hi. What brings you here?"

"I was reading the room back there and saw you walking alone," she responded. "I didn't see anybody with you, which was out of the ordinary, so I thought I'd come say hello."

"Oh, thanks then," Spud said before gazing back out the window.

"Is it because of Valkyr?" Nova asked concerned while taking a few more steps towards Spud. He glanced at her with inquiry in his eyes, silently asking what she meant. "The reason you are in this room alone. I like reading here because it is quiet most of the time," she added.

"Oh…" he responded. "Yeah. It's because of Valkyr. It has just been a tiring day, especially emotionally. I'm also worried about Lonewolf, I mean Ash. He seems off which makes sense given his relationship with Valkyr."

"It has been a tough day," Nova answered as she lowered herself to sit close to Spud. "Valkyr's abduction was a surprise to everybody. It is actually why it is quiet enough for me to read out in the main room today. Everybody went to their sleeping quarters. Well, almost everybody."

Spud looked at Nova slightly catching on to her attempt to try and lighten the mood ever so slightly. It was a little thing but it was something he really appreciated in times like these. He leaned back slightly to use the box behind him for a back rest and noticed when Nova did the same.

"It will all work out though," Nova said quietly. "We all saw the Lotus go towards your squad's usual room when Valkyr's abduction was realized. It was good she was so close to the dojo with one of the best squad's in the galaxy."

"That still doesn't mean Valkyr will be saved in time or at all," Spud answered quietly.

"That is true," Nova answered softly turning to look at Spud. "But if anybody can do it, it is you four." Then, she caught Spud's hand, gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, and leaned her head on his shoulder and joined him in looking out the window in silence.

* * *

Hayden's first thought was to try and seek out Saryn. She first went towards the individual sleeping quarters. After checking Saryn's quarters and not finding her there she started walking towards some of the extra rooms. As she approached the door, it opened and Nyx walked into area.

"Hey Nyx," Hayden started, "Do you happen to know where Saryn might be?"

"Yeah," Nyx responded with a clear smirk that was easy to see since she wasn't wearing her helmet either. "I was just with her. She should still be in the room at the end of the hall I was just in."

"Thanks," Hayden said while starting to move towards the door.

"Say," Nyx interrupted him, "where is Falken?"

"He is still in our usual hang out room. He is probably reading or something. Why do you ask?" she asked pretending not to know the reason that was incredibly clear.

"Oh, no reason," Nyx said quickly. "I was just curious. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem," Hayden responded as she continued walking towards the door. As the door closed, she looked back and caught a glimpse of Nyx jogging toward where her search began.

She entered the room at the end of the hallway and saw Saryn sitting down looking at something on her lap. Hearing the door open, Saryn looked up and smiled as she saw Hayden standing in the door. She put away what she was looking and motioned Hayden to take a seat next to her.

"Hello," Saryn said as the Trinity sat down. "I still can't get over how much I like your hairstyle, Hayden." Saryn added now playing with Hayden's hair. "I wouldn't think bright red tips would fit with brown but you can really pull it off."

"You could easily pull it off too," Hayden responded while moving to play with her partner's long black hair. "Probably better than I do too."

Rather than answering, Saryn moved her hand to Hayden's cheek and pulled her into a kiss and then hugged she tightly knowing that she was worried about Valkyr.

"We are all worried about Valkyr," Saryn said quietly into Hayden's ear. "She will make it back. I know it is hard to believe, but it is true." Saryn let go and looked lovingly into Hayden's eyes which now had tears in them despite her trying to hide them. Saryn wrapped her up into another hug. "Don't worry. I'm assuming you will have to go out again soon though so we need to get back into the right frame of mind by trying to get you to relax and refocus."

Saryn stood up and slowly walked toward the door with a sly smile on her face. As she reached the door, she pressed a button which locked the door and turned back towards Hayden, looking at her intently.

"Let's see how well I help," she said as she slowly walked back towards her lover.

* * *

Falken was sitting in the room looking for a new thing to read on the clan's database when he heard somebody walking down the hall. Curious who it was, he looked towards the door expecting the sound to pass the door and continue down the hallway but also knowing he would see who it was when they passed. As the footsteps got closer, they slowed down though until they were right outside the door and Falken could see it Nyx.

As Nyx entered the room, she softly knocked on the wall to indicate her presence and smiled as she saw Falken looking at her. Falken was surprised to see her and just stared for bit, most notably at Nyx's shorter red hair, before breaking his gaze and looking back at his reading list. Nyx walked over and sat next to him looking at the list for herself.

"Did you get tired of your poems or something?" Nyx said sarcastically.

"No," Falken said simply, "they are on the tablet over there." He motioned towards a chair to his right which had a small tablet on it. "I just want another thing to read but this list is massive."

"It does look like it quite a long list," Nyx mused. "I'm kinda glad you still have those poems. I like when you read them to me. They are nice."

"They are," Falken said while turning towards Nyx. "I'm glad you like them," he added with a smile. "I'm kinda glad you're here too. How did you know I was here? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I asked Hayden," she said. "She was looking for Saryn and we exchanged information about locations. I hadn't seen you in a while so I wondered."

"Oh, that's sweet," Falken said while he nervously scratched his head through his buzzed haircut. "I've been wanting to talk to you more often so it's a win for both of us I guess."

Nyx lit up slightly as he said that and moved closer to him. "It is, yes," she said. "So have you found anything to read yet?" Nyx queried.

"Not quite yet," Falken said as he turned back to his tablet. "There was one I thought might be good so I'll probably go with that one."

"What is it about?" Nyx asked now interested.

"It is a fantasy story," he said. "Nova had suggested it before and I thought it might be good. It was a book called "Watership Down" and it is about a group of rabbits, an ancient earth rodent, who leave their home to create a new because it is in danger."

"That actually sounds really interesting," Nyx said. "If you don't mind, could I read the beginning with you? I-I mean, so I can decide if I want to read it myself," she sputtered quickly, embarrassed.

Falken looked at Nyx and her now blushing cheeks and smiled playfully. He turned back to the tablet, quickly found the story, and put his feet up on the small table in front of his to start reading. Nyx just sat still, watching him since he had yet to give an actual answer. He looked up at her and locked his gaze with hers for a while before speaking.

"Are you going to join me or not?" he asked with a smile.

Nyx smiled excitedly and moved into a similar position as Falken trying to get a good look at the tablet he was reading from. After a bit she moved her body a bit and angled herself so her head was on Falken's chest and smiled as she found the position both comforting and close to Falken who hadn't objected at all.

After a few pages of reading, Falken gently put his arm around Nyx who accepted it easily and snuggled up closer to the Oberon. Being happy with the story selection and each other's company, the pair continued reading in silence while waiting for when Falken would be called to another mission and they would have to separate for a while.

* * *

Lonewolf stood in the corner of the dark interrogation room as the Corpus officer was being asked multiple questions about Alad V. Even through threats of death and torture, the officer was not giving up any information at all. The clan's best couldn't get an information and Lonewolf was quickly getting impatient as he knew time was limited.

He had noticed a few things about the Corpus officer. The most important thing was that the officer had nervously looked towards the motionless Ash multiple times. The other things Lonewolf noticed included how the officer kept rubbing his shoulder where the Ash's powerful kick had been delivered and how after the helmet was removed, it was easy to see a sort of chain around his neck which probably held something of importance.

After a while, Lonewolf pushed himself away from the wall and started walking towards the Corpus officer who quickly noticed. He activated a teleport randomly and appeared literally inches away from the officer who yelled slightly in pure terror. Lonewolf pulled out one of his blades hidden in his arms and caught the chain with it and pulled until a locket appeared. He opened the locket and saw a picture of a woman who was probably the man's wife.

"I've noticed that you haven't been answering our questions," Lonewolf said quietly.

"I won't tell you anything!" the Corpus officer said defiantly. "You can't make me!"

"Well, maybe they can't," Lonewolf said motioning towards the unsuccessful interrogators. "But I'm pretty sure that I can." He then punched the officer in the shoulder.

The Corpus officer screamed in pain his shoulder was easily knocked out of the socket by the powerful punch. After a bit he started to settle down but was quickly blinded as the Ash threw a smoke bomb and vanished from sight. After a few moments a force pushed on the officer's shoulder causing him to scream in more pain while more sensitive areas were ambushed with strikes from an invisible Tenno who appeared right in front of the Corpus soldier once again,

"Will you talk now?" Lonewolf asked making his voice as menacing as possible.

"Never!" the officer yelled.

Lonewolf quickly swiped with his hand while simultaneously activating his hidden blade and created a huge gash on the prisoner's face.

"Tell us where Alad V is located!" Lonewolf yelled at the now crying officer.

"No," the officer said through tears.

Lonewolf disappeared again and this time delivered quick slices and stabs to precise location on the man's body. The strikes wouldn't kill but would definitely hurt. After a bit, the Ash reappeared and leaned in close to the prisoner.

"Now, I know you won't talk but I want to you imagine something," Lonewolf said into the man's ear. "Imagine all that pain being delivered to the woman around your neck?" The officer's eyes widened in fear as Lonewolf broke the chain and showed him the picture. "Her. Imagine her getting all this punishment because if you don't tell us what we want I will find her and do the same things to her. She probably knows just as much information as you honestly. I can do both ways."

"Y-You can't find her," the man tried.

Lonewolf laughed. "Trust me, I can find her and I will find her." He delivered one last slash to the man's forehead, causing him to scream once again. "So be it," the Ash said while walking towards the door.

"Themisto!" the officer yelled as the Ash reached the door. Lonewolf stopped and turned around. "That is where his lab is located."

"What is he doing there?" the Ash asked savagely.

"The Zanuka Project," the captive answered. "He has been taking warframes and fitting the parts into a new proxy. He does everything at that lab. That is all I know, I swear!"

"I highly doubt that," the Ash responded. "So you will tell these other interrogators everything you know while I get ready to invade his lab. If you don't give all the information you know, and I mean everything, they will tell me and I will just make a quick pitstop on the way back here. And that's a promise."

Lonewolf then turned and left to tell his squad that they had another mission to prepare for.

* * *

 **A/N: Who doesn't like some fluff and some rough interrogations, am I right?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Once again, thanks for reading! Enjoy chapter 5!**

* * *

As Lonewolf entered the room he was met by the rest of his squad ready to go after being summoned by the Ash. The three had been adequately rested between the time they arrived back from the capture mission and now but each of them worried about Lonewolf who hadn't rested at all since the capture mission began. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to get him to rest, the three had quickly responded to the Ash's request to meet him and prepare for another mission. Not knowing what exactly was going on, Spud fished for details.

"So, what is the plan?" he asked simply.

"We are going to Themisto," Lonewolf responded. They all nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "It is the location of Alad V's lab. Apparently he has been working on something called 'The Zanuka Project' but we have no actual information about it. The Lotus has contracted us to attack Alad V at the lab. She will relay more information when we arrive at the lab."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Falken said as he checked that his weapons were correctly attached to his warframe.

"Yeah," Hayden added, "let's get going."

* * *

Spud, Falken, and Hayden all stood on the top of the facility waiting for Lonewolf as he had been stopped momentarily to get some addition mission details. As they waited, they quickly checked for access to the lab and found a grate that could be removed. The grate opened a large drop into the facility but they could easily see and feel air which would help slow them down. As the waiting continued, a silence filled the area until Hayden spoke.

"You know what I just thought of?" she asked catching the attention of the other two. "Alad kinda sounds like salad." She kinda giggled at her small joke.

"And…?" Spud asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, it is just funny," she said with a shrug. "Maybe when we open the door we should say 'Hey Alad! We're going to toss your salad!'" she added with an exaggerated smile. Spud and Falken just stared at her for a while before Spud cracked a small laugh.

Right at that moment Lonewolf's liset appeared and within minutes Lonewolf was ready to go.

"Let's get going," he said darkly the instant he got off his liset.

They made their way to the vent and removed it quickly before jump down into the Corpus facility. The area at the bottom was clear but they could easily hear the footsteps of Corpus soldier boots and the metal click of robots walking around. The Corpus were slightly more difficult foes than the Grineer due to their technological advancements but were still a force that the squad had dealt with before.

They started moving down a hallway which was marked as the path by their personal maps and quickly reached an enemy force. Not wanting to waste any time, Lonewolf teleported into the group quickly and activated his blade storm, killing the entirety of the group almost instantly. Without a pause, he continued out the doorway far ahead of the rest of his squad.

As the other three ran past the now dead enemies Spud noticed a small insignia on the bodies of the robots and the uniforms of the soldiers. It seemed familiar but he couldn't place it until after they ran past a few more groups of dead enemies.

"Elites," he said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Falken asked quickly.

"The soldiers and moas," Spud said starting to panic slightly. "They are all elites. Alad V apparently has one the strongest security details. That is the only possibility."

At that moment, Hayden did a quick jump and punched the ground letting her Blessing power activate to heal and shield her allies. Knowing that it meant Lonewolf was taking a lot of damage, Spud activated his speed ability so they could catch up with him. As the distance closed between the three and the Ash, the Lotus broke into their comms.

"Lonewolf has gone down, get to him quickly."

"Damn it!" Spud and Hayden yelled as the three continued running.

They quickly reached the room Lonewolf was in and saw a large group of enemies around Lonewolf but trying to capture him rather than kill him. Falken quickly used Smite which knocked down a large group of the enemies and caught the attention of the others. Spud quickly added a shock to disable a few more as Hayden jumped in with her link activated and started deal damage with her Bo. Being in close range, Falken grabbed his two Magnus pistols and started taking shots. The pistol roared as the shots took down multiple enemies. Spud's Latron Wraith also took out many enemies and before too long a large group had gone down. Spud then ran over to Lonewolf and set down an electric shield as he worked to get Lonewolf patched up. The green mist that the warframe's held was practically a miracle worker and quickly got Lonewolf back on his feet.

The room was now empty of enemies but the squad took a short rest. At that moment, a fuzzy picture appeared on their HUDs of a man with black hair wearing a suit of what looked like pure metal.

"Lotus?" Falken queried.

"It is Alad V," she responded. "He can access your HUDs it seems but he can't hear you. Only you will be able to hear him."

Alad V then started talking to them. "Oh I've been looking all over for you Tenno!" he said cheerfully. "Come, come! Let me show you my new venture, I think you'll be a perfect fit!" he added with a voice that bordered on insanity.

"New venture?" Spud asked. "Oh, the Zanuka Project? What do we know about that Lotus?"

"The Zanuka prototype has made Alad V a very dangerous man." she started. "If he is allowed to carry out his plans, no Tenno in this system will be safe."

"And why is that?" Hayden asked. "What is this Zanuka?"

"Alad V's newest prototype is a monstrosity forged from the bodies of our fallen Tenno, we cannot allow Zanuka to go into full production," she said causing the group to grow quiet. "Too many Tenno have perished to make Alad's abomination. There will be no stopping the Corpus if Zanuka is mass produced," she added sadly.

"Wait," Lonewolf cut in, "so the Tenno that have gone missing investigating Alad V have been killed and the warframes are now being used for this 'Zanuka'?"

"According to our captive, yes."

"So, is Valkyr even still alive?" Falken said fearful of the answer.

"Our informant says yes." They all perked up at that. "The Zanuka Prototype is in its final stages. We suspect that she is being held for other reasons."

"Then we should hurry," Lonewolf said. The group quickly started to move. As they reached the door of the room, the Lotus spoke once again.

"Be careful Tenno, Zanuka has all the power of a Warframe with a full complement of mods. It will be as if you are fighting one of your own today." Then after a pause she added "And we need him alive." and then she left their comms, leaving the group to their mission.

* * *

After fighting through a few more rooms of enemies, the squad finally reached the room in which Alad V was located. Before they were able to reach the door, Alad V cut into their HUDs again.

"Oh, if it's your friends you're looking for," he said, "you're welcome to place a bid for my newest Zanuka prototype."

Taking that as a sign, the group ran toward the door to fight Alad V. When the door opened, they saw a group of Corpus soldier near the man from their HUD who was leaning over a table. Falken, Spud, and Hayden pulled out their long range weapons and quickly killed the guards around Alad V. Taking quick notice, Alad V slowly turned to face them. They could easily see Valkyr unconscious with various instruments connected to her.

"It was about time you showed up," Alad V said to the group. "I've known you been here for a while now. You aren't all that quiet." he taunted. "I'm sure you would like that she my new prototype," he said while motioning towards an animal like proxy next to him. They all quickly aimed their weapons at him. "So be it," he said, "let me show you the future! Zanuka! Kill!" As he said that, the proxy stretched and got up into a battle stance.

"I'll get Alad V," Lonewolf stated, "you guys work on Zanuka." He quickly teleported to Alad V but his kick was blocked by the Corpus executive. He then pulled out his Dakra Prime and continued to fight. He swiped and stabbed using multiple combos but Alad V was quick. Most attacks missed but some hit doing barely any damage. Lonewolf quickly realized he would need at least a little help.

Nearby the other three were fighting Zanuka. Even though the proxy was a big target, it wasn't taking any damage from attacks. Spud had switched to his Lex pistols to try to puncture the proxy's armor but couldn't make a dent. Hayden stood farther back taking shots with her Sybaris while Falken was trying to get swipes in with his glaive. Nothing was working. Suddenly, Zanuka fired a group of rockets which split to seek out each of the three Tenno. Taking the opportunity, Hayden activated Link and ran within range of the proxy to take the damage and deal it back to her opponent. Falken and Spud both dodged the rockets with rolls but Spud lost a Lex in the process.

From the other side of the room, the sounds of the fight between Lonewolf and Alad V could be heard. Noticing that Zanuka had focused on Hayden, Falken took the time to pull out his Vectis and take a shot at the executive. He aimed and pulled the trigger causing the single shot to be delivered directly into the chest of his target. The shot was good and caused Alad V to fall.

Zanuka instantly ignored Hayden and ran back towards Alad V. In an attempt to slow it down, Spud took a single shot with his Lex and hit Zanuka directly in the head. The shot registered in Spud's HUD as a noticeable chunk of the enemy's shield disappeared. Not phased by the shot, the proxy ran to its master, knocking Lonewolf away in the process. Suddenly, Alad V was back up again and was running away from the Ash who was also back up again. Zanuka then turned back to where it was and ran back.

Spud took another quick shot with his Lex and noticed that the damage was once again minimal. Then it clicked.

"Everybody aim for Alad V first," he said quickly. "When he is injured, Zanuka is able to take damage."

Trusting the Volt, the other three sprang into action. Lonewolf teleported over again able to deliver a powerful kick this time. Falken's Magnus pistols spewed bullets at the target and Spud took calculated shots with his Lex when an opportunity arose. Hayden attempted to distract Zanuka and managed to move the proxy towards where Alad V originally fought Lonewolf.

Soon after, Alad V yelled as he went down once again causing Zanuka to start moving towards him. This time the Tenno all turned towards the proxy and open fired. Spud set down an electric shield and the charged bullets slowed down Zanuka even more while also dealing more damage. Before it could reach Alad V, the proxy collapsed into a pile defeated.

"Ahh! Zanuka!" Alad V yelled in terror as he saw it die.

"Nice work," the Lotus said in their comms. "The extraction team will be there shortly to pick up Valkyr and Alad V."

Lonewolf started to walk towards where Valkyr was lying to check her condition. As he passed Alad V, he delivered a quick kick to the executive's head to render him unconscious. Giving Lonewolf some space, the other three walked back to the door of the lab and waited while also watching for any Corpus soldier who might possibly be around if any were even alive.

As Lonewolf reached Valkyr, he could easily see it wasn't good. Multiple tubes were connected to Valkyr's body and she was tied down tightly to the table. Nearby, a bloody knife was sitting on another small table and he quickly found the locations of multiple cuts on Valkyr's body. There were also a few technological attachments connected to her jumpsuit. At a quick glance, Lonewolf could tell that the attachments wouldn't be easily removed. Even through all of that, though, Valkyr was still alive and that was all that mattered.

Knowing that he should try to move her, the Ash started walking back towards his squad. On the way, he picked up Spud's Lex that he dropped but stopped next to the unconscious Alad V. Sudden rage filled his body and he aimed the pistol at the executive's head. At the moment, Spud turned as he had realized that he only held one Lex. His eyes widened as he saw Lonewolf standing over Alad V but couldn't say anything before the single shot rang throughout the room.

The shot caught the attention of the other two who quickly noticed the blood pooling under the head of the target they were supposed to keep alive. Lonewolf turned and walked towards the group. He handed Spud the Lex as he passed and continued walking silently as he moved towards the extraction.

* * *

The room was filled with monitors. Each one held information about a different sector of the galaxy and were constantly in use. The few Tenno is the room watched the screens intently. Multiple dots filled the screens tracking the locations of Tenno lisets, extraction teams, Corpus ships, Grineer ship, and anything else of note. Despite being a boring job, it was an important one. The few Tenno were in charge of tracking locations and reporting anything suspicious to the Lotus.

One Tenno was watching the screen involving Jupiter. He was under orders by the Lotus to make sure that the strike team that just fought Alad V made a direct route back to their clan's dojo. He didn't know the specifics but given the Lotus's mumblings he assumed a Tenno had killed a target they were supposed to capture. The reason for the order didn't matter though. He was asked to watch the monitor so that was what he was doing.

He suddenly noticed a dot disappear from the screen. It was a rare occurance so the Tenno did a quick search to see what it was. Finding the information interesting, he quickly contacted the Lotus.

"Lotus," he said as soon as he knew she was there, "I've noticed something."

"Go on," she said simply.

"A dot near Jupiter disappeared," he said. The Lotus was quiet but moved to talk after a bit. "But," he added, cutting her off slightly, "it isn't a Tenno liset. It was an extraction team."

"Which extraction team?" she asked curiously.

"I just checked that," the Tenno responded. "It is extraction team 175-Alpha."

"Alright," the Lotus said, "I'm guessing there was just an accident. Thank you for the information. Let's try to keep this quiet though."

The Lotus then ended the communication with the Tenno and took a break to think. Extraction team 175-Alpha was the one who was supposed to get Alad V's body. After hearing that Lonewolf had killed him, she was forced to send another extraction team for Valkyr. It was good though because she also heard that the second team had the correct tools to get Valkyr out of there safely while the first one did not. It would be a long recovery for her.

Despite of the fact that extraction teams rare did lose connection to the system or even sometimes got destroyed, she could shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"It couldn't be a coincidence," she mused to herself. "And if it isn't, then we might be in for a lot of trouble…"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello again! Once again, thanks for reading! I have a few things to say this time.**

 **1) This chapter starts a bit dark so hopefully it isn't too bad.**

 **2) I am planning to make a series of oneshots with the characters in this story (both main and background characters) so if you have any suggestions for things you'd want me to write about for those, please let me know through review or personal message!**

 **3) As always questions, comments, suggestions or tips, and corrections are encouraged!**

 **4) Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The light was blinding. As soon as she opened her eyes, Valkyr closed them again. After a bit she tried again and looked into the light. It was stronger than any light she had ever seen before. She had no idea where she was or what was going on, it was just the light restricting her view of the area.

She went to move her hand to block the light. But it didn't move. She tried again and once again her arm wouldn't budge. She started to panic and looked left and right seeing that her arms were bound tightly to a table. She tried to move her and couldn't do that either, presumably because they were tied down too. She panicked some more, this time screaming for help, confused as to why she couldn't move.

"Don't strain yourself Tenno," said a taunting voice that Valkyr couldn't locate, "we don't want you tiring yourself out before the main event now would we?"

"Show yourself!" she yelled back.

"As you wish," the voice responded as a head moved to block the light slightly.

She instantly recognized the face. How could she forget it? It was the face of her target, the face of the man who had been kidnapping and killing her fellow Tenno, the face of the psychotic Corpus executive. Alad V.

In a sudden burst of hate, Valkyr tried to launch herself at Alad V. She pulled at the restraints while her vision turned red, wanting nothing more than get at the taunting executive and tear him to literal bit. She wanted revenge for her fellow Tenno but couldn't achieve it, the restraints wouldn't budge at all.

She suddenly felt an overwhelming calm take over for a few seconds as she caught hold of her thoughts, thoughts she never imagined she would ever think about anybody. She started to cry as the panic rose again. Bitter tears of defeat and disappointment fell from her eyes yet she didn't take her eyes off Alad V.

"What… did you do to me you filth?!" she said darkly.

"What did I do to you?" he asked innocently. "Well nothing much. I'm just trying some things out. Experimenting if you will."

"Why are you doing this?" Valkyr asked, her voice on the edge of rage.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Alad V asked, "It's for profit! And I can get a lot of profit out of you!" he finished with a horrifying laugh.

The panic in Valkyr rose again as the restraints tightened even more and Alad V moved closer with a maniacal grin. The tears were still falling, this time in fear though, as Alad V grabbed various instruments and started roughly pushing them into Valkyr. When he finished, he grabbed a small knife and started looking at Valkyr's body while slowly sliding his hand over her body.

The panic skyrocketed and she tried to fight back. She tried getting out of the straps again to no avail all while screaming loudly and shaking her head around violently in an attempt to do something helpful. She screamed again suddenly as she saw a flash of the knife and was swiped by the knife directly across her face.

"Shut up Tenno!" Alad V yelled before going back to work.

She tried again. Kicking, screaming, shaking her head as hard as possible but stopped suddenly as the knife flashed again but this time found the knife driven deep into her right arm and then ripped out violently resulting in a giant gash across her arm.

"You know," Alad V said, "it doesn't matter if you are mutilated as long as you are still alive. I can just keep applying more wounds if you misbehave."

That was when it hit her. She could see the wound on her arm and feel the blood dripping down her face from the cut across her face but there was no pain. She started to panic even more. He was experimenting on her but she wouldn't pass out from pain so she would be conscious the whole time.

She started to cry even more as the terror set in and looked down just in time to see Alad V cut a giant slash into her stomach and look inside. He was dissecting her alive and there was no way out. She felt only pure terror as multiple more cuts were made. She felt pure disgust and hatred as she felt the executive's hands all over her and tried to withhold the stomach contents that she could feel trying to find its way up her throat. She tried to look away but couldn't as multiple metal attachments were roughly connected to her body.

After what seemed like hours of horror he finally seemed to stop and look at his handy work with an evil smile.

"It seems I'm about done," Alad V said smugly. "I will miss our time together," he added causing Valkyr to quickly shift her gaze at her captor. "Oh yes," he said gleefully, "I have everything I need already so it is time to get rid of you." At the he grabbed a giant knife from a table and moved closer to the Tenno.

Valkyr panicked even more than ever. She couldn't control the fear as he slid his hand over her body one more time and raised the knife above her heart. She saw it plunging towards her body and cried out at the last moment in defeat and terror.

Then she woke up.

* * *

It had been months if the traditional earth calendar and time system was used. Lonewolf sat in a padded room watching over a sleeping Valkyr who was tied tightly to the bed in order to protect herself and anybody who watched her. Recently that had most been Lonewolf.

Today was just like any other day. The first time he watched her, he panicked when she tried to fight against the constraints in her sleep but now it was like clockwork. At almost the same time every night she would fight the constraints to the point where Lonewolf could not look at her wrists anymore. He had found it best to wait for her to wake up before he tried to help.

This time she woke up with a scream and Lonewolf was instantly there. He saw the panic in her eyes mixed with a feral rage that never left. She fought the restraints violently before finally noticing the Tenno she trusted so much right in front of her. She settled down quickly but burst into tears as she realized she was still living a lifelong hell even though the Corpus executive was now dead.

Lonewolf moved in quickly and held her while she cried, trying to stay strong for her and only barely succeeding. They didn't even need words anymore. She trusted him and he couldn't stand to see her in this state. They both cared for each other and it helped even though recovery was still very slow.

Not long after, Lonewolf was summoned to meet with his squad.

"Seems like I have to go," the Ash said sadly as he saw the Tenno flinch but nod slightly. "Hopefully you will get back into the field soon after they get these contraptions off," he said as he eyed the attachments that Alad V had connected to her. The attachments that no Tenno doctor had successfully removed.

He started to move towards the door. As the door opened he paused for a second not wanting to leave Valkyr behind.

"Please come back soon," Valkyr whispered just loud enough to hear. Lonewolf turned seeing the tears in her eyes, her sweat filled black hair stuck to her forehead, and the deep cuts on her wrists from the restraints. "Please," she whispered even quieter."

"Don't worry," Lonewolf said with some difficulty, "I'll be back before you know it." And he finally left the room.

* * *

When he arrived at the room where the rest of his squad was located, Lonewolf also saw the Lotus. He instantly knew that this was important and quickly stood next to his squad to receive instructions.

"So, what's the mission?" Spud started.

"Over the past several days I have detected several Corpus vessels travelling way outside normal shipping routes," the Lotus said not wasting any time. "Normally, this would not be cause for concern but these ships are heavily armoured and flying dark. My long range scans are coming back scrambled. Someone wants to keep these ships hidden. I suspect troop movement or worse."

"So, you want us to check it out?" Hayden asked.

"Yes, exactly," the Lotus confirmed. "I want you four to go to one and see what is going on. It cannot reach its destination so kill its crew."

* * *

Soon afterwards, the squad was at its destination. They quietly boarded the ship and checked their weapons before running out. Thinking the fight would be easy, Spud quickly ran out to attack with his Kronen but was instantly bombarded with bullets, quickly taking him down.

"Shit!" he yelled. "These guys hit hard!"

His squad was there instantly. Lonewolf cleared the room easily with a blade storm and Spud was up within a few seconds. As they got settled down and were discussing that they should be more careful, their HUDs crackled and a face appeared on their screens. The face of Alad V.

"Well, look who finally showed up!" he said almost sounding delighted. "I was wondering how long it would take you to find my little... operation."

They all paused in shocked as the face disappeared. They looked at each other before Spud called for the Lotus.

"Lotus," he said slowly, "it's Alad V."

There was silence for a bit before she responded. "I see," she said simply. "Keep me up to date on everything," she ordered. "I will stay in your comms for updates. This has the highest priority."

"Alad V?!" Lonewolf finally sputtered. "This can't be true. I put a bullet between his eyes!"

The picture returned instantly as if he had been listening. "What's that? You thought I was... dead?" he taunted. "Hah! That's cute. Nothing but rumors and exaggeration I'm afraid. Though to be honest, times have been tough, what with you trying to kill me and all." He disappeared once again.

"Well let's just keep going," Spud said. "We still have a mission to complete."

They started off instantly and ran into room after room full of soldiers. Even though the fights were more difficult than most, Hayden and Falken kept everybody healthy well enough that nobody was seriously injured. After a few rooms they ran into a locked door.

"My scans show this door will be impassable without outside intervention," the Lotus said cutting in suddenly. " Access the panel so that I can hack it remotely."

Spud quickly set up a connection and the squad waited. While they waited, Spud took the time to gain a status report.

"Lotus?" he asked, "What is the mission's status in terms of number of enemies?"

"It looks like Alad V has a small battalion guarding this ship," she responded. "What I don't know is where he is getting all the troops. My scans say there are still a significant number left so there will be more resistance to come. But Alad V is clearly up to something." she said as she worked. "The door is open. Get moving," she ordered as soon as the door was open.

The squad ran in but didn't see the troops they expected to see. What they found was a glass cylinder in the middle of a room. Inside they could clearly see infested biomass and an infested crawler climbing on it.

"What in the wor-" Falken started before being cut off by another transmission from Alad V.

"Tenno! Tenno! You're not supposed to be in here!" he said. "You're going to ruin the surprise!"

"Lotus?" Hayden said into her comms. "You are going to want to see this."

Instantly, a connection was made to Spud's Helios to use the camera. She gasped slightly upon seeing the infested biomass and crawler in the glass. Helios followed Spud as he walked around the tube. On the other side, there was a Corpus soldier inside the tube partially consumed by the infested matter and was seemingly grasping towards Spud, trying to escape.

"Oh my god," Spud whispered in disbelief as he pulled out one Lex pistol and aimed it at the soldier's head. A single shot rang out as he put the crewman out of its suffering, driving a bullet straight through the glass and into his head.

"Recent events have led me to diversify my business." Alad V continued from before. "Biotics are such an underappreciated sector. The Corpus Board wants nothing to do with them. I disagree. I think they are the future. Your future Tenno," he finished before the transmission ended once again.

Suddenly, a roar of types was heard in the next. The squad ran towards it quickly and entered the door with guns ready to go. What they saw was a terrifying scene. The room was filled with Corpus soldiers but they were fighting the infested. The watched as the soldiers tried to defend themselves from the onslaught of infested beasts quickly making their way towards them. One infested jumped on top of a Corpus crewman who fell over and was instantly swarmed as he screamed in fear.

The Tenno quickly jumped into action to ward off the infested. Spud pulled up his weapon and quickly located ancients standing around and started taking shots while Lonewolf started to spray bullets down range to start work on the smaller infested. Hayden's Sybaris took shots at various larger infested while Falken got in close, laid down a Hollowed Ground and started rapidly firing his dual pistols at the infested monstrosities. Once he had taken out the ancients, Spud slid in to help Falken with the smaller infested. His Kronen came off his back and the flash of metal showed that his strikes hit true and strong. He grabbed his Lex and started taking shots as well as Falken grabbed his glaive and started throwing it through multiple infested, cutting them cleanly in half. Once the infested had thinned, Lonewolf activated his blade storm and finished the rest of the infested and leaving one Corpus soldier still standing. As the ability ended, the Corpus fired one shot at the Ash who quickly dodged and pulled out his Acrid to fire a single shot into the soldier which quickly ate at the soldier's body as the poison rapidly spread through his body.

"Ungrateful," Lonewolf growled as he put away the pistol and quickly followed his squad.

Throughout the ship, the squad found less Corpus and more infested. The fights were still tough but surprise was no longer an advantage the enemy held and the group always found themselves victorious. As they headed towards the extraction after finally finishing off the last of the infested, Alad V sent another transmission.

"Have you guessed my business plan yet?" he asked with a taunting laugh. "Well, do not fret. You will find out soon enough. Though, I must say, I will miss this ship, but there are more where it came from, and I can assure you, you won't find them all." and the transmission ended.

"Tenno," the Lotus said suddenly, "get back to your dojo right away."

* * *

When they returned to their dojo, the Lotus was already waiting for them. They went off to their room and the Lotus allowed them to sit and take off their helmets before she started. When they had sat for a while Spud started.

"What information have you discovered?" he asked.

"Shortly after you four found the infested I ordered many more squads to attack similar ships," the Lotus started. "Many found the same things as you. Varying number of infested and Corpus, the same exact room with the glass cylinder but some were broken and the infested biomass had spread throughout the room."

"What does this mean exactly?" Lonewolf asked.

"Well unfortunately, my suspicions have proved warranted," the Lotus responded. "We now know that Alad V is up to something and it involves the Infested. Our attacks on his shipments will have set him back but the Origin System is a vast place and I fear some of his vessels escaped detection."

"He did say that we wouldn't be able to find them all," Hayden mused as she played with her hair.

"So, what do we do?" Spud asked, concerned.

"For Now we must wait and prepare," the Lotus said after a pause. "When Alad V makes his next move, you must be ready. The real battle is yet to come." Then she turned and left the room to leave the Tenno to their business.

* * *

 **A/N: That tricky Alad V am I right?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So I may have forgotten to upload this chapter yesterday... oops. To make up for it I will be uploading another chapter today shortly after this one.**

 **Once again, thanks for reading! Questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are still encouraged!**

* * *

The entire dojo was quiet other than the occasional sound a single Tenno walking the halls. After constantly attacking Alad V's ships over the past several days, all the Tenno in the dojo were exhausted. Nobody was excused from duty other than those who were not fit to fight and since most were able, everybody shared in the collective tiredness. Everybody was relieved when the Lotus had announced that there were no new ships to attack so the collective of Tenno had taken the time to finally rest.

Spud, Lonewolf, Hayden, and Falken were all in their usual spot but were just as tired as the rest of the Tenno in the dojo. They had all checked up on their respective partners but didn't stay long since the tiredness quickly took over. At the moment, the room was completely silent. Hayden had laid herself across a furniture piece known as a couch and was nearly dozing while playing with her hair which had become a force of habit. Spud was sitting in a chair trying desperately to stay awake in case he was needed but very clearly was losing the battle. Falken had elected to try and read but the tablet was now residing on the floor as he had dropped it while dozing off and was now completely asleep as far as everybody could tell. Only Lonewolf was the only one that could even be considered awake but that was more due to the fact that Alad V's return was bothering him continuously, even in his fatigued state.

Outside in the hallway to the room the sound of footsteps started and slowly got louder as they approached. Hayden's attention was caught quickly but after a bit of listening and realizing that the footsteps were actually the sound of heels hitting the floor, she groaned loudly as it was most certainly the Lotus coming to ask them to do another mission.

Now slightly more awake due to the groan breaking the silence, Spud straighten up slightly and yawned before standing up to slowly wake up Falken from his accidental nap. As the Lotus walked in Lonewolf turned towards her and greeted her with a slight nod while starting to walk towards Hayden to get her to at least sit up. The Lotus waited for them to get up and ready since she realized that this group in particular was extremely tired and soon everybody was mostly awake and ready to listen to their guide.

"Tenno, we have a problem," she started as the Tenno all looked up at her waiting for more and being too tired to ask questions. "Alad V has developed a way to direct the spread of the Infestation. Using these newly engineered 'hive' organisms, the Infestation is able to corrupt a new ship or colony almost instantly."

"Why can't this guy take a break once in a while?" Hayden groaned as she put her head back to look at the ceiling.

"What is a hive?" Spud asked ignoring the complaints of the Trinity.

"We aren't completely sure but they spread the infestation," the Lotus said. "As far as we know, these could be the ships that we weren't able to deal with over the past few days. But that isn't all," she added. "There are also disturbing reports coming in that the virus has evolved. It is now capable of absorbing and corrupting non-organic beings. Not even the robotic soldiers of the Corpus are safe now."

"Well isn't that great…" Lonewolf said sarcastically. "So, what do you need us to do?"

"The only way to stop the spread is to destroy these hives," the Lotus started. "There is a massive outbreak near Eris. An entire fleet of Corpus ships has been exposed to this new bioplague. If the hives are allowed to gain a strategic foothold here, the Infested will become unstoppable. They will overrun the system extremely fast."

"So, go in and destroy the hive," Falken said. "How do we destroy the hives?"

"That is also something we don't know for certain," the Lotus answered. "We will need you to figure it out. We have noted multiple main hive masses in each of the ships and similar smaller masses nearby so we assume they are related. Other than that, we have no idea."

"When do we need to be ready?" Spud asked. "We are all still really tired."

"You will need to be ready in a few hours," the Lotus said while she turned and started to walk to the door. "You will need to get some sleep."

* * *

The squad dropped into the now destroyed Corpus ship. There was infested biomass everywhere and they could already hear the growls of nearby infested chargers. In the room was also multiple bodies of Corpus crewman probably killed when the ship got destroyed and was left to float around Eris. The area was horrific but they still had a mission to complete so they started off.

As if by clockwork, a transmission of Alad V appeared on their HUDs. "Tenno there you are! I thought you'd never show up," he said. "Come test out my new fighters and let me know what you think!" and the transmission ended.

No longer being disturbed by the transmissions, they quietly entered a room which was along the way to the first hive mass to get the jump on the enemies when Spud's Helios beeped signifying that it was scanning something new. Spud notified his squadmates and they all looked around for anything different. It took a little while but they finally saw what looked like an infested moa with a cloud of organisms floating around it. Knowing they would have to face it eventually, they all jumped out at started attacking the infested.

The infested quickly swarmed them making long range weapons completely useless. There were flashes of metal as melee weapons cut the infested apart, loud bangs of pistols going off, the high fire rate of Lonewolf's Soma, and the occasional sound of a shuriken striking an infested or a shock shooting through multiple enemies. Falken and Hayden kept everybody healthy and dealt significant damage as well even though the infested just seemed to keep coming.

Suddenly, Hayden was hit with a cloud that slowly ate away her shield and slightly blinded her. She yelled out and rolled quickly leaving the cloud of organisms where she was originally. She quickly located the infested moa that was staying back and fired a few shots with her Marelok. To her surprise, the moa jumped into the air effectively dodging her shots but as it landed she shot once more and took it down completely.

Instantly she found herself stuck in a pile of tar, slowing her down. She quickly noticed another infested moa nearby but this one was clearly different than the other given the difference in attacks. She quickly tried to move out of the tar before she got mauled by multiple other infested and started taking shots at the new moa. This one didn't jump fast enough and was soon lying on the ground as sparks shot around it.

After a while, the infested seemed to slow down so the squad moved on through the ship towards the first hive mass. As they approached, some more infested showed up so they fought while looking around for clues relating the destroying the hive mass.

"There is no telling what effect destroying these hives will have. Stay alert," the Lotus said in their comms suddenly. "Try to seek out some smaller masses nearby. My scan indicate five of them but I have no reading on location."

At that moment, Spud found a large mass and shot it making it explode into biomass. The destruction of the mass had some small effect but it was very unnoticable.

"I think I found one," Spud said. "They are orange and have some weird orange light coming out of them. And there might be some organisms as well. It was easy to destroy."

"Oh," Lonewolf said, "then I just found one too."

"The strength of the hive mass is weakening," the Lotus said. "I think it is working."

After a bit of searching, they found all five masses and all ran back to the hive node.

"All the nodes have been destroyed," the Lotus began. "My scans say the hive mass in vulnerable."

Without wasting any time, Spud pulled out a Lex and emptied a clip into the mass. The mass faded in color and a tremor shook the ship suddenly. Nearby lasers started turning on, partially blocking the path of the Tenno.

"Killing that hive seems to have triggered nearby laser traps," the Lotus said quickly. "Proceed with caution."

The group of Tenno moved on towards the next hive mass dodging the lasers with relative ease. As they got near, they noticed two different types of new infested among the battling monstrosities. These two were larger than most of the infested. One seemed to be more closed up while the other had infested flesh on its top.

As the infested took notice on the Tenno, the closed up one seemed to puke and multiple little maggot looking thing spewed out and started running towards the Tenno. One jumped up on Lonewolf and ate away his shield quickly while also slowing him down. He quickly rolled and killed the one that was one him and fired his Soma quickly to kill the rest off. At the same time, the other one shot some small seed like things in the air which created another infested mass next to it. After a little bit, the masses exploded and new infested ran out of them.

The group fought them off little by little, making more progress once the two new infested had been taken out. They quickly fought towards the hive mass and located and destroyed the smaller masses around it. When they destroyed the hive mass, they instantly felt lighter.

"Destroying that hive damaged the stabilization module, expect reduced gravity," the Lotus said before any of them even had to ask.

The lowered gravity made dodging the lasers a bit harder but they easily made their way to the last hive mass, this time not finding any new infested to take note of along the way. As Falken was destroying one of the smaller masses, he suddenly saw something flying towards him. He ducked just in time and the things flew past him but left a trail of poison along the way. As he ran out of the poison stream, he noted that it looked like an osprey and then quickly shot it, watching it explode in a cloud of sparks.

Once the last hive was destroyed they started making their way towards the extraction zone as turrets fired at them. The Lotus said that the hive mass was disrupting the defense systems of the ship so they now worked and were shooting at everything. It came almost as a blessing since the system also shot the infested but it slowed down their trip to the extraction point.

As they reached extraction, another transmission from Alad V appeared.

"Impressive isn't it?" he said like a proud father. "I just can't wait to see the looks on the faces of the Corpus Board when I give them a demonstration."

* * *

When the squad returned, they met the Lotus to explain their findings. The Lotus had already sent other Tenno teams to various hives after passing along the information about how to destroy them. Other teams had also come across the strange new infested and enough information had been found to determine that they were a threat that seemed to be there to stay.

"You've done well Tenno," the Lotus said as the meeting ended. "You deserve some rest before your next big mission."

"And what mission is that?" Lonewolf asked.

"Well," the Lotus said, "Alad V is responsible for everything going on here so I think it is time we track him down and take him out. And I want you four to do it."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Here is the second chapter of the day. The story only has 3 chapters and an epilogue left after this one. That being said, I do still plan on writing some Warframe oneshots using the characters from this story so if there is anything you'd like me to write for one of the oneshots please let me know! I'd be happy to try it out.**

 **As always, thanks for reading! Questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are still welcome! Enjoy!**

* * *

The next few days were relatively uneventful for the small group. They were assigned to a few easy missions to keep them from becoming bored but most of the time was spent resting and preparing for their next big mission. In their spare time, the members of the squad tended to seek out their significant partners.

Falken and Nyx had quickly finished Watership Down together and were frequently seen walking around the dojo while engaging in general conversation. Hayden and Saryn were just as active as normal but had actually been seen less often than normal for reasons the other Tenno could only infer. Spud and Nova were often seen together as they enjoyed each other's company, even if nothing was being said. Lonewolf checked up on Valkyr daily and often stayed for a good deal of time to continue to help her. Valkyr was slowly getting better and everybody knew that the main reason was the Ash that was constantly by her side.

The group didn't ever get too comfortable though. They were all just waiting for the Lotus to tell them it was time to get Alad V. She had told them that they needed to wait for the opportunity to attack so they just waited for the inevitable call.

* * *

"So how is Valkyr doing today?" Lonewolf asked with a smile as he entered Valkyr's room. He was so happy with her progress that asking had started to be a habit that always ended well. She had finally been able to take off the restraints so her wrists were now almost completely healed and she was doing some friendly duels to get back into fighting which helped a lot.

"I am doing really well actually," Valkyr said with a wide smile towards the Ash. "I got even more sleep last night than I did the night before so it is progress."

"Good," Lonewolf said as he walked over and gave her a quick hug before taking a seat next to her bed. "So, I heard you've been thinking about which warframe to take again," he said casually while trying not to look at the attachments on Valkyr's body which still could not be removed.

"I have," she responded slowly while looking down.

"What have you been thinking?" the Ash queried.

"Well," she started slowly before lifting her head to look Lonewolf in the eyes. "I've been thinking about keeping these," she said indicating the attachments on her arms. "I've just found them useful. I've never really found a warframe that I really enjoyed the sound of and right now these thing are, well, me."

Lonewolf watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't joking around. He never would have thought she would be able to accept those "things" on her so he was surprised to say the least.

"What have you found them able to do?" Lonewolf asked after a bit.

"Actually quite a bit," Valkyr said. "I can make a zipline of sorts and use it to pull myself towards an area. I actually caught Nekros with one once and pulled him too," she added with a small laugh. "I've also been experimenting a bit and with enough power I can release an energy area to make allies more effective at fighting, launch a powerful force of energy to make enemies lose balance, and even make these things grow claws which I can attack with."

"With enough energy?" Lonewolf asked.

"Yeah," Valkyr said. "It is quite tiring when I use those but Nekros thinks that I might be able to harness all my withheld anger. 'Use rage as your power source' or something like that. I intend to try it when I'm in a mission since I can't really get my rage up when I am just fighting Tenno. At least not yet," she said with a smirk.

"Sounds like it might work out," Lonewolf said. "I bet it might be possible to emulate the tech and all that so you could be the start of a new warframe."

"That would be really cool," Valkyr said with a smile. "But I think we need to test it a lit-"

Suddenly, the screen in the room turned on and showed the face of Alad V but something was off. On one side of his body infested flesh could easily be seen and his face looked drained of color. Lonewolf glanced at Valkyr who was staring at the screen looking like she was ready to break it but quickly looked back as the man started talking.

"Hello inhabitants of the Origin System!" he started. "It is my singular pleasure to announce that today is the first day of a new empire! An empire populated not by Corpus, not by Grineer, and certainly not by the Tenno."

Lonewolf slowly stood up and watched intently while also keeping a tab on the clearly angry Valkyr about three feet away from him.

"No," Alad V continued, "the Mutalist Empire will be populated by you! A glorious new you, baptized by Mutalist flesh."

Lonewolf's eyes widened. Alad V was going to try to make the galaxy completely infested and he honestly had a pretty good start.

"You've called this a disease? An Infestation?" Alad V asked. " Well, I call it unity! One army under me! Welcome to your new species!" he finished with a laugh before the transmission ended.

"Well that doesn't sound good," Valkyr said after she had finally settled herself down. "I'm guessing that means that it is time for you to track him down?" she asked Lonewolf.

At that moment, the screen came to life again but showing the Lotus this time.

"Ash, get to the room for mission briefing," she said. "Your squad has already been contacted."

"I guess so," Lonewolf said as the screen turned off once again. He gave Valkyr one more hug and then ran out the door.

* * *

When Lonewolf made it to the room, everybody was waiting so he quickly sat down and the Lotus instantly started talking.

"Alad V has launched a full scale invasion into all sectors of the system," she said. "We're working on fighting back but we need to take this fight to the source. We need to find Alad V and stop him."

"What do you mean he has launched a full scale invasion?" Spud asked trying to get as much information as possible.

"Alad V's infested ships are slamming into populated centers all around the system. He's using these ships like spore pods to spread his Mutalist plague," she responded. "Equally concerning are the new strains of Infested he's using in this attack."

Hayden shivered slightly as she remembered the infested they ran into during their first mission destroying the hives.

"So what is the plan?" Falken asked quickly.

"There are two courses of action," the Lotus said. "First, we must extinguish each Infestation at its source. I will be issuing bounties, so that we can cut down as many of these new Infested as possible," she continued as the others nodded in agreement. "Secondly, we need you to deal with the source of the problem. You will locate and destroy Alad V's lab."

"How do we find his lab?" Lonewolf asked.

"The Corpus have been tracking Alad V for months," the Lotus explained. "His attacks on their ships have been nearly as devastating as those of the Grineer's Fomorians. You will go to a Corpus outpost and steal their intelligence. We will then use that information to find his lab and hopefully him."

"Seems like a good plan," Spud mused.

"Left unchecked, this plague will spread out of control," the Lotus said. "You must start immediately, there is no time to waste."

* * *

The squad of four silently dropped into the Corpus outpost. Since the mission was of the highest priority, they had discussed their plan on the way to the outpost. The plan was simple. They decided that the best idea would be to run the mission silently. Once again, Spud had brought his silent pistols and would take care of the cameras while the others focused on Corpus soldiers who happened to be in their way. The mission was the data and that was it so they decided to only kill who had to be killed if possible.

Spud was also given the job of running the vaults. As per his interest in gaining knowledge about everything, he had gone on multiple spy missions and talked with others about them to the point that he knew a way through all of them. His success rate was high so the others determined it would be okay for him to go alone while they watched the door.

With the plan in place and no time to waste, the squad set off instantly. Their stealth approach worked perfectly. Lonewolf, Hayden, and Falken easily took out soldiers while Spud took clear shots at a few enemies with his pistols. If a few were close together, Lonewolf would go invisible and would synchronize with another to take them out at the same time. In no time they approached the first vault.

Spud opened the door and looked around to quickly identify which vault he was dealing with and ran in quickly. The vault was an easy one with only moving laser to dodge and no enemies within. Spud shot one camera and then jumped, slid, and flipped his way gracefully through the vault and quickly acquired the data for analysis by the Lotus while the squad moved on.

Their plan never faltered and they quickly reached the next vault. This vault started with an elevator and one quick glance told Spud everything he needed to know. He would have to work his way to the top of the glass case in the middle of the room and then jump down it while dodging lasers. As the elevator went down he noticed an open vent grate and jumped in. He patiently waited for the one enemy to pass him before quickly running in and attacking the soldier from behind and killing him with a swift cut to the throat. He then launched himself upwards to get on top of the case and then dropped in. There were platforms on each level and lasers sliding horizontally to dodge but with careful jumping he was quickly getting the data and riding back up the elevator shortly after.

As soon as the group started moving, they stopped as a transmission broke through onto their HUDs again. Once again they saw the clearly sick Alad V.

"I took a disease and turned it into a life-altering gift," he said. "Someday you may learn to appreciate what I'm giving this system. Until then, all you can do is rage against the inevitable." And the transmission ended.

Instantly they heard the sound of gunfire accompanied with the sounds of infested on the other side of the next door. The group quickly ran forward equipping their primary weapons along the way. As the door opened, they saw exactly what they expected: Corpus getting attacked by Alad V's infested force. With a quick communication, the squad decided they would no longer be stealthy but wouldn't attack unless they got attacked themselves.

They all quickly ran through the chaos in front of them, only slowing to take a few shots at the infested who decided to attack them instead of the Corpus soldiers farther away. In order to finish the mission quicker, Spud activated his speed power and the four of them sprinted to the last vault. They reached the vault with little difficulty and Spud instantly ran in to find the data hidden in vault.

Once again, the vault was one he knew. There were lasers aiming at the floor and they moved back and forth directly in his path with only a few safe spots in the walls for him to utilize. After waiting for the correct time, Spud sprinted forward and slid into one of the safe spots just barely missing the laser that was in the section. After waiting a bit for the next laser to be going in the correct direction he turned the corner and ran into another slot in the wall directly under a camera which he shot quickly. He then ran into a little room nearby and pressed the control panel to turn off the lasers in the room. He then quickly ran to the other side to enter a vent and get in from above. He shot the very camera, grabbed the data, and quickly left the room as gunfire erupted from outside.

Activating his speed once again, Spud ran past his squad meleeing the enemies they were fighting along the way signaling the others to follow. They ran through the chaos, which was still going on at the base, and quickly made it to extraction without having to do much more than take out a few problem enemies which happened to slow them down. As the got into their lisets, a transmission came through from the Lotus.

"Tenno," she said quickly. "This goes deeper than I thought. Alad V has gotten his hands on another Warframe." The group instantly froze. "If he can infest it like he did with the Corpus…" she said slowly, "we have to move quickly."

* * *

When they arrived back at the dojo, the Lotus instantly led them to their room to give them an update on the situation and to give them new mission details.

"We've narrowed down Alad V's location to a cluster of infested Corpus vessels," she said not wasting any time. "This is his breeding ground. You will raid one of these ships while I try to pinpoint the source of Alad V's signal. I'll need three signals to triangulate his whereabouts, so I will be sending two other squads to two other ships to acquire the signal more quickly."

Spud began to ask a question but was waved off by the Lotus. "We have to move fast," she said forcefully. "Alad V cannot be allowed to bring a Warframe to life using his Mutalist Infestation."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Short chapter today (didn't realize it was so short...) but enjoy either way! Questions, comments encouraged and all that jazz. You know how it goes by now. :P**

* * *

The squad quickly arrived at the hive they were tasked to destroy. The other two squads had moved towards other areas but were actually relatively close by in comparison to most times. The mission was simple: destroy the hives while the Lotus finds Alad V's location. It was not really a question of if they were going to destroy it, but when. With this in mind, the four Tenno started moving the instant they dropped into the ship.

They arrived at the first hive mass with no issues and surprisingly didn't meet many infested along the way. Almost as if they had been waiting, the infested presence didn't actually seem large until the squad had found the first hive mass.

As they fought their way through the hordes of infested now clawing at them constantly towards the smaller masses, now dubbed tumor nodes, each of them easily cut through the infested. It almost seemed as though the infested were weaker than before. They all tried to determine if that meant Alad V's force was now weaker or if it meant that the tougher ones were yet to come.

They were able to located the tumor nodes fairly easily and returned to the hive mass to destroy it. As they destroyed it, they notice a slight change in gravity and started moving towards the next hive mass.

Before they were able to get too far, a transmission came through to their HUDs. Once again they saw the sickly face of Alad V. The infestation was clearly spreading throughout his body quickly as the masses were now larger and covered more of his body than before.

"Soon," he started, "you will see like me. You will see the- beauty and perfection of this new species," he continued, stopping occasionally as if in pain. "Come Tenno, evolve wi- with me."

As the transmission ended, the Lotus appeared on their HUDs.

"It's worked its way into his mind," she said both curious and concerned. "It's changing how he thinks. Alad V isn't using the Infestation as a weapon, he is the infestation," she finished as if deep in thought.

As the transmission had been going on, the squad had already fought their way towards another large group of infested defending the hive mass. As they seeked out the tumor nodes while fighting through the infested, they all started to think about Alad V's plan. Was it really him making these decisions? Had he played with the infestation too much and now couldn't control it? Was Alad V still himself? It was all very confusing but they didn't need to worry about it. There mission was to destroy the hives and that was what they were doing.

Once again, the tumor nodes were found swiftly and the hive mass was destroyed shortly after. This time the laser grids turned on again but only slowed down the squad slightly. As if by clockwork, they received another transmission from the now corrupted Corpus executive.

"Oh Tenno, are you worried you'll be left out?" Alad V asked. "Look, I've been working on something, special. You can too can be- one with us," he ended gasping in pain.

"I'd much rather be left out than end up looking like you…" Spud mumbled slightly, receiving short chuckles from the rest of his squadmates as another transmission from the Lotus came through.

"I've almost completed my signal analysis," she reported. "Keep moving, I'll have his lab's coordinates shortly," she continued before ending the transmission.

In no time, the squad had reached the next well guarded hive mass. Still confused about the relatively low toughness of the infested, the hunt for the tumor nodes was fast and easy. As the hive mass was destroyed creating energy stealing, magnetic pockets throughout the ship, the group moved swiftly towards extraction to get away from the infested creatures which seemed to show up constantly near the hive masses. About halfway to the extraction, Alad V sent another transmission.

"You see Tenno, my new flesh comes with new desire," he started as the squad collectively shivered at the thought. "This Infestation and I, we are one. I want what it wants. And it wants- what I want. Together, we will crawl across the bountiful flesh of this system. Join us."

"This guy has serious issues if he think we will join him," Lonewolf said. "I mean, he is Corpus and infested so he is literally two things we would never join."

"Well," Hayden said slowly, "not without pay at least," she finished with an obvious smirk.

"I'll work for anybody who gives me enough credits or a good enough weapon," Falken added, also with an obvious smile in his voice.

Shortly after, the four of them were in their lisets but still in communication. The Lotus once again popped up on their HUDs with an update.

"Good work Tenno," the Lotus said. "I have just triangulated the location of Alad V's lab."

"Good," Lonewolf said plainly. "I'm ready to pay him another visit."

"By this point he will have moved on," the Lotus responded to Lonewolf who growled slightly. "but we can still destroy his work and stop him from creating anymore Mutatlist infested."

"That is at least a good start," Spud mused.

"This mission is still of the highest priority though," the Lotus continued. "Due to that fact, I am sending you there right now. Destroy his lab."

Shortly the lisets had changed course towards Candiru and Alad V's mutalist lab.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10 time which means the end is near! Hope you have been enjoying it so far! As always, thanks for reading! Just getting views means a lot to me. Questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are still encouraged! Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

The location of Alad V's lab was not far from the hive they just destroyed and soon the squad was inside the Corpus ship. From where they stood, they could easily see that the ship was being guarded by infested rather than Corpus. Remembering how the infested at the hive were not very tough, they all assumed that these would be the stronger batch. Before they started the mission, the Lotus sent them a quick transmission.

"This is it, this ship is Alad V's laboratory," she explained. "The crucible of the Mutalist infested. We're going to make sure no new Infested are created here. Destroy this ship's reactor."

As the transmission ended, they started their trek towards the reactor now marked on their HUD maps. As they engaged the first infested on the ship it was clear that these infested were, in fact, stronger than the infested at the hive. Even though their weapons took them out relatively quickly, it was clear that the infested were able to take more hits and also hit harder. After a short while they were moving along through the ship but a transmission from Alad V caused them to pause.

He looked even worse than the last time he had sent one. His face was more pale, the infested masses larger than before, yet still he was alive to the surprise of everybody in the squad. Shortly after his face appeared, he began to talk.

"Tenno," he started, "do you really want to ruin the best chance this system has for peace?"

"What you want isn't peace," Spud said towards the figure who couldn't hear him as the transmission ended. "You just want to be the leader of something, even if you can only get it using a plague."

"I don't even understand how making everybody infested would result in peace," Hayden added. "It isn't like the infested have any order among them."

"Well," Lonewolf said, "I know that I'd rather have a system which fights over a system of mindless monsters."

The other three nodded their agreement and the group continued towards the reactor.

After a few more rooms of intense fighting, multiple blade storms, and plenty of healing, the squad finally got a short moment to slow down before another horde ran towards them. As if by design, Alad V appeared on their HUDs once again.

"Why don't you want this?" he asked. "My Mutalist Empire means unity. Is there nothing more... balanced than that?"

They all glanced at each other as the transmission ended by nobody said anything. They knew he was just trying to trick them. A mutalist empire wouldn't mean unity, it would mean chaos.

"Lotus," Falken said suddenly, "how much farther to the reactor?"

"Only a couple of rooms," the Lotus responded instantly. "You are close but be careful. I can't imagine that Alad V wouldn't leave the reactor protected."

The group quickly started moving towards the reactor again but noticed something strange. The infested almost seemed to be thinning. As they got closer to the reactor, the number in each room got smaller. As they reached the room next to the reactor, they noticed the room was empty.

"This is weird," Hayden said in confusion while quickly reloading her weapon. "What kind of person wouldn't defend his lab? It makes no sense."

"Could it be a trap?" Falken asked. "I mean, maybe the reactor room itself has infested in it."

"That could be possible…" Spud mused. "It probably would be good to be careful as we entered."

"I agree," Lonewolf stated simply. "Let's get to it though. The faster we destroy this, the faster we can get out of here."

"And the faster we can take down Alad V again?" Hayden asked slyly.

"Yeah," Lonewolf said, "that too."

As they opened the door to the reactor room, they all raised their weapons expecting to have to fight off a large group of infested, but the room was empty. They quickly put their weapons down and started to explore the room. Nothing about the place seemed different from any other Corpus ship. A big metal cylinder covered the actual reactor but was swiftly hacked open by Spud. The reactor was destroyed after a short moment and Alad V appeared on their HUDs again.

"Tenno, I'm not angry," he said with a growl, "I'm... disappointed. I can always build a new lab ship, but you can't keep running from your destiny forever. Let me show you... what is possible."

"What does that mean?" Spud asked his squadmates slightly worried.

"I don't know," Hayden responded, "but let's just get to extraction."

As the ran out the door, they all stopped in their tracks as a figure was in the way. It appeared to be a type of warframe, but not one the group had seen before. It appeared to be female and was mostly blue with bits of yellow, white, and black. On its head was what looked like a bandana that covered its eyes which appeared to be held with clip of some sort. Around her neck was a collar which appeared to be half metal and half infested. On its forearms sat what appeared to be pistol barrels which the group eyed carefully.

"The warframe…" Falken breathed caused the rest of them to tense up.

As if reacting to the comment, the warframe suddenly flipped up the barrels on her arms and aimed at the group, not waiting before firing multiple shots towards them. Quick on their heels, every member of the group rolled to the side and split up, just barely dodging the shots coming their way. The warframe then switched her aim towards Spud who activated his speed ability and ran, not sure whether to fight back or not.

"That's not a Tenno," the Lotus said quickly into their comms. "That's a hollow Warframe being puppeted by Infested flesh. Put it out of its misery."

Now with confirmation that fighting back was okay, they all pulled out their weapons and started to attack the warframe from all sides. It quickly adjusted to the change in the battle started dodging shots while also firing the pistols at the four warframes attacking it. As more shots were fired, the warframe seemed to be shooting the shots faster causing the four to take cover.

"This isn't working," Hayden said into the comms, "it can beat us with just bullets if we rely on guns."

"Then let's try melee distance," Lonewolf suggested to the agreement of the others.

Almost instantly, Falken rolled out from his cover and threw his glaive towards the warframe. The warframe reacted quickly, putting away the pistol barrels and pulling out a plasma sword to deflect the glaive in a shower of sparks. Spud then slid in with his Kronen. The warframe sidestepped the attack and took a swing with its weapon, just barely missing as the Volt had rolled to let Hayden get up close.

The trinity ran up quickly with her Bo staff and started taking swings. They were caught in a short duel before the warframe parried, knocking trinity backwards. Before the warframe could capitalize on the parry, Lonewolf teleported and delivered a sharp kick straight to the warframe's chest causing it to fall backwards. The warframe recovered quickly but instantly Falken was on it taking swing with his glaive that had returned to him after being deflected. The two dueled back and forth for several seconds until Falken did a swift backwards handspring placing a foot directly under its chin and then threw his glaive towards its head.

The warframe clumsily dodged the glaive but a sudden impact knocked its legs out from underneath its body. Hayden had taken the opportunity to slide into the fight with her Bo staff and take a swipe at its knees which connected cleanly. As the warframe was on the ground, both Spud and Lonewolf went in for a strike.

Spud ran forward with his Kronen and proceeded to cut a large gash into the warframe's back as he quickly jumped over the warframe to let Lonewolf have a clear attack. Lonewolf then pulled out his Dakra Prime and, during a quick flip jump over the warframe, threw the tip of the sword into the warframe's torso, pinning it to the ground.

The warframe was clearly still alive but no longer an issue for the group as they all stood up and grouped up. As they stood for a bit to catch their breath, Lonewolf put his hand out to Spud who pulled out a Lex and gave it to him. He approached the warframe which was still attempting to move and aimed the pistol at its head.

"Spud," he said quietly as he moved the barrel of the Lex away from the warframe's head, "let Helios get scans of the warframe."

After Helios had taken a few scans, Spud gave a quick nod to Lonewolf indicating that the scans had been taken.

"Good," Lonewolf said as he aimed at the warframe's head once again. "It would be a nice warframe to have on our side, but I think it is time we make it so we don't have to fight it anymore," he finished as he pulled the trigger letting the shot ring throughout the room.

"Target destroyed," the Lotus said in their comms, "proceed to the extraction point."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: It's the last actual chapter! There is an epilogue that I will be uploading shortly after to top it off but then that is it! As I've mentioned before, if you have any ideas or things you'd like to read about in the form of oneshots, please let me know! I'm practicing writing and think that is a great way to learn.**

 **As like before, thank you for reading! Questions, comments, suggestions, and corrections are still encouraged! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The squad made their way back to the dojo but barely had any time to rest before they were already called to learn about their next mission. The Lotus had been busy finding Alad V's actual location with the help of other squads and almost had a reading to the exact ship. Despite of the fact that Alad V's lab had been destroyed, it was still extremely important to take out the man himself so there was no time to lose.

The Lotus had quickly called them to their room and now the group was waiting for their guide to arrive after she had secured Helios's scans of the warframe they fought at the lab. After a short wait they could hear the click of her heels, which had become well known to the squad recently, and soon after walked through the door. She looked at them carefully before talking.

"Alad V is sick," she started slowly. "The Infestation has infiltrated his mind, it has him doing its bidding. You're going to stop him, but in doing so you will also be showing him mercy. The mercy of freeing him from the Infestation."

They all watched the Lotus intently, not completely sure if she was being sympathetic towards Alad V or not. After a few seconds, Lonewolf spoke.

"Why should we give Alad V of all people mercy?" he asked more than a little upset.

"It is appropriate to d-" the Lotus started before Lonewolf interrupted her.

"Appropriate?" he exclaimed slowly getting more angry. "He kidnapped and killed Tenno for experiments! He tortured Valkyr almost to death and she still hasn't recovered! If anything, he deserves to be tormented by the infestion."

The Lotus waited patiently for Lonewolf to settle down while the other three watched closely, not wanting to say anything to increase the tension. After a little while the Lotus spoke again.

"That is true," the Lotus said, "but nobody deserves the infestion. If anybody did, it would be running rampant throughout the system because so many could be considered deserving. We can't play god in situations like this. Besides, an infested Alad V could still be a threat to the system."

"But we destroyed his lab!" Lonewolf yelled as his temper flared again. "What is he going to do without a lab to create his infested? I won't kill Alad V and let him free of his suffering, I can't after what he did to Valkyr."

"What if I wanted you to, though?" a voice asked from behind the Lotus causing everybody to turn and look. Valkyr stood in the doorway in her jumpsuit, her long, black hair not being held by her helmet at the moment. Lonewolf looked at her in disbelief before talking.

"But he tortured you," Lonewolf said slowly, "you still have nightmares. Wouldn't you want him to at least suffer some?" he asked.

"Believe me," Valkyr said with a small laugh as she walked into the room, "I do want him to. But I've had a lot of time to think in my time alone in my bed and this is the right thing to do. He did what he did for profit, which is what every Corpus executive does. Sure, we were a little more directly affected by Alad V but it was still just for profit." At this point, she had made it to Lonewolf and stood in front of him. "Killing him will free him from the infested and get rid of him once and for all. It might not seem fair but it is right. So, will you do the mission?" Valkyr asked as she slowly placed her hand on the Ash's cheek, "For me?"

After a few seconds, Lonewolf gave her a quick hug and looked at the Lotus. "Where are we going?" he asked.

* * *

Not too long later, the four Tenno were in their lisets flying through what could easily be a Corpus ship graveyard near Eris. The Lotus had finally gotten an exact location of Alad V but the path there was dangerous as it was in the middle of all the destroyed ships. It was a clever place to hide but didn't keep him safe as long he had probably hoped it would. The only issue was that the Lotus said he would easily know they were coming so surprise was not something on their side.

As they approached the ship and quickly boarded it, they instantly had to fight off a small horde of infested. It was clear that the path to Alad V would be tough but fighting infested was basically second nature for the squad now and the infested were quickly cut down. As the first small attack was defeated, Alad V appeared on their HUDs.

"Tenno, Tenno…" he said with a voice of disappointment. "Why must you always work against- progress? I'm trying to bring us all together. Things could have been different if you tried to work wi- with me."

The group of Tenno ignored his message but noticed that he looked even worse than before and was clearly still in a lot of pain. It was clear that he was getting completely taken over by the infested and they all felt a small pang of sympathy for a second before he started talking again.

"Do you see this collar?" he asked indicating the collar that looked similar to the one on the warframe they fought at his lab. "This collar will- let you see like I see. It will let you want what I- want." After a while, he sighed and continued. "There I go again, giving you too much- credit. Must I always show you the way forward?" and he ended the transmission.

The squad continued moving toward the location of the now infested Corpus executive, running into groups of infested along the way. They fought through the standard infested and some of Alad V's created mutalist infested but still they fell easily. The squad of Tenno left a trail of cut, electrocuted, stabbed, and irradiated infested in their wake, making their way slowly but surely towards their target. When there were only a few rooms away, Alad V appeared on the HUDs one last time.

"You have one more chance," he said. "Come to me and I will show you the magic of this gift."

They once again ignored his message and were soon walking through the door of the room in which Alad V was located. As they entered the room, they got their first full view of Alad V since he was infected by the infestion. His face and shoulders matched exactly what they had seen in the transmissions but they quickly noticed the infested had completely taken over his left arm and leg. It had also stretched to cover about half of his torso. His other half still wore his standard Corpus gear and he held a type of rifle which seemed to be infested as well. Within seconds of entering the room, the fight had already began.

The four Tenno instantly spread out and started to fire at their enemy, not doing any damage at all. In an attempt to try another type of attack, Spud slid in and performed a spinning melee attack which also did no damage. As he slid past, he caught a little damage due to some nanites swarming around Alad V similar to the ones that swarmed the new infested they had faced recently. He quickly mentioned it and the squad went back to trying to damage the Corpus executive.

After taking the attacks for a little while, Alad V took advantage of a short time when the Tenno were reloading and took off his collar, placing it on the ground which created a small shield in front of him. Once it was down, he started shooting at the Tenno with his rifle while they shot back. The bullets shot by the Tenno bounced off the shield until Falken took a shot with his Vectis which penetrated the shield and hit Alad V in the chest.

"This flesh makes me strong!" Alad V yelled after a short yelp of pain. "You've forced my hand!" he added as he grabbed the collar from the ground and put it back on.

Once again, the Tenno couldn't damage their target. It made no sense to them and they continued to attack. Trying the melee approach himself, Lonewolf teleported next to Alad V and started swinging his Dakra Prime. He backed off as he noticed that no damage was still being done to his target and the nanites were doing a significant amount of damage.

As the Ash backed away, Alad V took off his collar once again but this time it shot an electrical beam at Lonewolf, doing a significant amount of damage. Hayden quickly healed her squadmate as the other two continued to shoot, but actually noticed that damage to Alad V was actually being done this time. Lonewolf rolled behind cover to break line of sight and Alad V once again put the collar on, essentially making him invincible. At that moment, both Spud and Falken realized what was happening: Alad V was immune to damage when he was wearing his collar but not when he wasn't wearing it.

They quickly communicated their findings to the rest of their squad and their attack plan changed completely. They started shooting less and tried to bait Alad V into taking off his collar in order to save their bullet for when they needed them. After a while, Alad V took off his collar to make another shield and the group attacked swiftly. Hayden slid in with her Bo staff but was launched backwards as the shield expelled a burst of fire outward. Falken took shots through the shield while Lonewolf and Spud flanked from behind to shoot around the shield. After taking considerable damage, Alad V put his collar back on and ran away from the group.

Lonewolf instantly ran after him and caught up easily, following the Corpus executive around a corner.

"Try this!" Alad V yelled as he gained sight on the Ash.

Before it could even register, Lonewolf was struck with Alad V's collar and it attached to his neck. He instantly felt control of his body leave him, but was still moving meaning he was being control by the collar and probably Alad V himself.

"I'm not in control of my body," Lonewolf yelled at his squad as his body started running back towards his squad. "Be careful, I'm guessing I'm going to attack you when I get back there. Find him while he doesn't have his collar on."

Once Lonewolf saw his squad again, his body aimed his Soma and fired. The others quickly dodged out of the way of the multiple shots and started to search for Alad V.

"I'm going back to Alad V," Lonewolf said, "I think you need to distract me so I don't defend him as much."

With that in mind, Hayden ran out in the open leaving Spud and Falken to find the Corpus executive. Not trying to hurt her friend, Hayden stuck to trying to block Lonewolf's bullets and trying to disarm him. After blocking for a while, Hayden lost her balance and took a few bullets, taking a large bit of damage. She instantly locked him in a Well of Life to give her some healing and to stall a little more.

Nearby, Spud and Falken had finally found Alad V. Spud was already taking shots with his Latron Wraith and Falken switched to his dual Magnus pistols to deal with the short distance. They found that Alad V was still able to shoot his weapon through the rain of bullets and his less than perfect aim, almost no bullet hit the pair. As he tried to run away, Spud delivered a shock to their target locking him in place.

"Could you hurry please?" Hayden asked suddenly. "I don't know how much longer I can hol-" she cut off as she screamed in pain.

Knowing that their time was short, Spud and Falken started firing faster. Once he was out of bullets, Spud switched over to his Lex pistols and continued to fire. Alad V finally got away and ran back towards Lonewolf and Hayden, who were now stuck in a melee fight. As the approached, Falken let off a Renewal to heal Hayden back up a little bit before returning to firing at Alad V.

The bullets were flying towards Alad V as Hayden blocked a strong swing from Lonewolf and they got locked in place trying to push each other back. At that moment, Alad V's life counter was low and Spud switched back to him Latron Wraith and started firing shots with that. In the corner of his eye, Falken saw that Hayden was losing the fight with Lonewolf and decided to pull out his Vectis. Falken aimed and shot a bullet right as Lonewolf pulled a quick move causing Hayden to lose her balance and end up with her towards Lonewolf who had continued the strike and was going right for her now completely undefended back.

Through Falken's scope, he saw the sniper's bullet hit Alad V directly in the shoulder causing the executive to fall to the ground in severe pain as his body couldn't take any more damage. To his side, Falken heard Lonewolf yell and quickly turned to see what the cause was. He instantly saw Hayden facing Lonewolf in a defensive stance while Lonewolf sat on his knees. Nearby the Ash's Dakra Prime was sticking in a large mass of infested flesh. The collar had lost its power and soon fell off of Lonewolf's neck to the relief of the Tenno.

After they had all recovered, the Tenno walked over to where Alad V was now unconscious and moved to finish the job. As he had done with the infested warframe, Spud gave a Lex to Lonewolf.

"You can get your last moment of revenge," the Volt said as he stepped backwards.

Lonewolf looked at the pistol then at the Corpus executive he hated so much. He took a few steps closers and pointed the barrel at Alad V's head. He noticed the pained look on the executive's face and paused for a moment. He suddenly thought about Valkyr and what she and the Lotus had said. Alad V was just doing what every Corpus executive did, he was making profit. And in that quest he had gone too far and was now controlled by the thing he tried to control himself. After a bit, the Ash took a breath, moved the barrel away from Alad V's head, and walked back to the Volt.

"I don't need revenge," Lonewolf said as he gave the Lex back to the Volt. "You should finish the mission."

With that, Spud walked up to Alad V's body, let Helios take a few scans, then aimed and pulled the trigger. Just like all the other times, the shot rang throughout the room. The room was silent as Spud saw the pained face of Alad V relax. Alad V was now free from the infestion.

"Target down," the Lotus said quietly, "he won't bother us anymore. Leave him there, the infested will take care of him. Return to your dojo, you all have earned a break."

As the Lotus ended her transmission, the squad slowly started to walk to extraction. They approached the door and Lonewolf looked back at the man that had just recently revealed himself to be a threat. He took a deep breath and walked out the door, leaving Alad V's body behind.


	12. Epilogue

**A/N: As promised, here is a little epilogue! I'll keep it short up here because I'm going to say some more below. Enjoy!**

* * *

The room was littered with paper and dust from the wall. In many places, the walls had shuriken stuck inside them as if they had been thrown with tremendous force. In the middle of the room stood a group of Tenno all standing around an Ash who was eyeing a fly which was crawling on the wall. As the fly stopped moving temporarily, the Ash launched a shuriken from his hand towards the fly.

"Ooooohhhh," the group around him exclaimed mockingly as the fly casually flew away from the wall past the shuriken which was now firmly wedged into the wall.

"You don't have to do that every time I miss," Lonewolf said to his crowd as he tracked the fly once again.

The room had a lot more Tenno in it than usual. Over the period of light missions and lots of breaks after the death of Alad V, the room had become a usual meeting place of more than just Spud, Falken, Lonewolf, and Hayden. Today, like many other days, Nova, Valkyr, Nyx, and Saryn had stopped by to say hello to their partners, but today they had walked in right after the fly killing attempts had started and had joined in watching the repeated failure.

"We don't have to," Spud said with a smirk, "but we really really want to."

Lonewolf growled slightly and slow gravitated towards the fly's location to attempt the throw again. The rest slowly formed around him to get a good view of the attempt and waited for the fly to stop moving.

"Where did this fly comes from anyway?" Nova asked with actual curiosity. "I've only seen them on earth and it would be unlikely that one would just randomly fly into your liset, even if it could easily."

"I think he catches them," Falken said. "He just wants to prove he can do it. The Lotus did it the last time he tried this."

"Wait a minute," Valkyr said suddenly. "Is that why it took you so long to get to extraction when we did that earth mission the other day?" Lonewolf froze for a second. "I knew you weren't looking for Kubrow eggs!" Valkyr exclaimed with a laugh.

"I'm honestly not too surprised," Hayden said as she played with her hair slightly. "This is exactly something you would do."

Lonewolf suddenly let another shuriken fly, missing the target again and pulling another sarcastic reaction from the group. Lonewolf got up slowly and turned to Valkyr.

"Out of everybody," he said, "you should be cheering for me."

"Perhaps," she responded. "Would you maybe like some help? If I Warcry it will slow down the fly even more than it already is," she added with an innocent smile as Lonewolf frowned.

"Maybe I could try," Nyx said, "my psychic bolts would seek it out and hit it."

"Or I could shock it quickly," Spud added. "I would get close enough that it would get zapped."

"My reckoning would hit it," Falken said adding to Lonewolf's annoyment.

"My poison could easily kill it too," Saryn added with a smirk. "And I don't even have to aim."

"Molecular prime would also slow it down for you," Nova added quickly. "Or I could kill it with null star or antimatter drop."

"I don't need any help," Lonewolf said more than a little annoyed at the jokes. "I'll hit it."

"Well," Hayden said slowly, "the way I see it, you are one of the few without a guaranteed way to kill the fly so…" she trailed off for effect.

"You don't either," Lonewolf responded.

"Hence the 'one of the few' hon," Hayden responded with a sly smile.

Lonewolf once again moved closer to the fly and prepared for the fly to stop moving. Despite being annoyed with them, he was glad that everything had worked out. He looked back at the group and smiled. Valkyr was almost completely better and the design for her warframe was now complete and was even named after her. She was now one of the dojo's best fighters. Spud and Nova were almost inseparable now that they had been together for a good amount of time. Even now they stood close together as Spud hugged while from behind while watching the next attempt. Falken and Nyx were almost the same but seemed to spend a lot more time in private. They claimed they read a lot of books but only they really knew the truth. Nyx was currently leaning slightly on Falken allowing them both a good view. Hayden and Saryn were more or less just as connected as ever but had moved a little more towards dates instead of the their normal purely physical relationship although right now it looked like they might find a different room soon enough. Overall, everything was good and Lonewolf was happy with that.

Before Lonewolf could throw another shuriken, the group heard someone clear their throat behind them and turned to look. In the doorway stood the Lotus holding on the Lonewolf's shuriken in her hand. To her right stood another warframe. Lonewolf, Spud, Falken, and Hayden all froze as they recognized the warframe as the one they fought at Alad V lab but without the half-infested collar.

"Hey Lotus," Hayden said casually, "who is that?"

"This is Mesa," she responded with a smile. "Thanks to your scans, we were able to recreate the warframe that attacked you at Alad V's lab. Mesa is the first Tenno to try it out. I thought that since the breakthrough was because of you all and she is now part of the clan, that you should be the first to meet her."

"What does she do?" Spud asked without thinking about how rude that might sound.

"I'm a gunslinger," Mesa said for herself. "I excel with pistols and use that to my advantage. I even have my own," she added indicating the barrels on her forearms.

"I have to ask," Falken said after a bit of silence, "is that a bandana around your head? And doesn't that make it hard to see?" he asked.

"Yes, it is a bandana," Mesa said with a smile. "And it does, but I like a challenge."

At that moment, the fly flew over the heads of the Tenno in the room. Instantly, Mesa flipped her wrist so one barrel came up to her hand, and shot a single bullet which hit the fly perfectly.

Lonewolf looked back at Mesa as the fly fell to the ground.

"Oh great," he said sarcastically, "another Tenno that can kill flies better than me."

* * *

 **A/N: And that is the end! Thank you so so much if you read the entire story, it means so much to me that people are reading and (hopefully) enjoying something I've put so much thought and work into. I would love to read everybody's thoughts on it so if you have anything you want to say, feel free to do so! I am still looking for oneshot ideas so if you have any please tell me and I will try my best to make it happen!**

 **Once again, thank you so much for reading my fan fiction! I truly hoped you enjoyed it. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or corrections are still encouraged, and reviews will be gladly accepted!**


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